The Curse of Memory
by Blake-Neko
Summary: A secret can only be buried for so long. The plan was supposed to go a certain way, but fate has a funny sense of humor. Natsu must become more involved than he had planned to. Of course after certain events happen the truth is revealed and now questions are being asked. Who really is the villain of this story?
1. Chapter 1

_**The Curse of Memory**_

 _ **Prologue**_

400 years ago (roughly)

For anyone else this day would be unmemorable but for two brothers it would forever be in their memory.

Today in a dark lab sat a teen writing in a book. The aura around him was ominous and the ethernano in the air was corrupt. The reason why, his scripture was of dark origin, one that could contaminate even the purest of souls. But such magic was necessary for what he was trying to accomplish.

The revival of his brother.

When Zeref had first begun his quest of revival he was cursed by the God of Life and Death, Ankhseram, due to messing with the natural balance. For the want of bring back a life of one that he loves he would forever take the lives of those he cared for. At the time it seemed such a small price for what he wanted but as time went by and the Curse of Contradiction took more lives the Black Mage began to desire his own demise. So, he created the Etherious to kill him, sadly none of his demons were strong enough to kill him and had an affinity for hatred of humans. Which only worsened his already bad reputation. Then a grand idea came to him.

If nothing Zeref created would be powerful enough then he would take something he hadn't and make it stronger. And that lead to the idea of bringing his brother back as his ultimate demon, one strong enough to finally remove this stain from history.

Now the mage was writing the final pages of the book that would be key in his plans. Zeref stopped to take a break, looking up to look at a large egg, inside the crystal structure was a pink haired boy seemingly asleep. His body was in perfect shape, Zeref had been sure to preserve the body perfectly after healing it. The image in front of him was enough for him to continue his work, and as he was finishing the last characters, he hesitated for just a moment. Just long enough for him to question, _Is this really for the best?_ But the thoughts were quickly pushed from his head and he finished scripting the last of the book. The mage rested the quill on the wooden table with a heavy heart before he hastily closed the cover.

The instant he did so the boy's eyes shot open and the shell of the egg cracked then shattered, followed by projectiles and fluids being launched across the room. The child stood there for a second before he collapsed, yet before he could reach the ground the teen had caught him in his arms. Gently cradling him in his arms Zeref whispered," Welcome back, Natsu."

When Natsu next awoke he was snuggled into a sleeping teenager's arms, inside a laboratory. The walls were dark, there were no windows, papers were littering the floors and tables, vials of liquids (some glowing others not), the only real source of light cam from the stairs. He quickly detangled himself from the teen and sprinted towards the door. One way or another he found himself outside.

Natsu was in the woods with the sun shining bright, the wind danced gently in the air, and the animals of the surrounding area had begun to crowd the boy. While for anyone else this many seem peaceful but for the newly revived boy it was all too much. The sun burned his eye since there were no clouds, the wind was too strong against his skin, and the animals had a hostile appearance. The world was spinning or maybe it was just him but the next thing he knew he was on the ground sobbing and choking on air.

The last thing he remembers is fire, so much fire. Enough so that the sky was painted red. The feeling of the heat and the boiling of his flesh, the smell of his and others flesh burning would never leave his nose. The screams of people as they burned to death would forever haunt him. But in his very last moments he had talked to his brother. Zeref was holding him, crying, telling him the everything was going to be ok. Then Natsu with the last strength he could muster, albeit weakly, saying that it was going to be ok, that even though he didn't want to die he was glad that his brother was safe when the dragons attacked, and most importantly that he loved him. After the closing of his eyes all he saw was black, an eternal nothing, a silence so deafening he thought he lost his mind.

 _What happened to me?_

 _Where is my brother?_

 _Why am I alive?_

 _Why?_

 _Why?_

 _Why?_

In midst of his panic attack Natsu had not noticed a dark figure drifting towards the boy until he had wrapped his arms around him protectively.

"Shhh Natsu, its ok. You're ok. They can't harm you anymore. Your big brother will protect you."

Natsu looked up at the person holding him, he had the same dark hair, a black toga with a white wrap around it, and the round pendant that had their picture in it. It was the same pendant their mother wore before _that day._ And his smile was still the same, soft and caring, although it does seem to be quite sad.

"Zeref-nii?"

The dark-haired boy nodded and the pink haired boy latched onto his chest and began to cry louder.

Zeref picked up his brother an brought him back to his laboratory. When Natsu had calmed down Zeref released him and sat him on the table next to the book. Now that his breathing was normal the boy looked the teen in the eye and collected himself for what was going to happen next.

"Why did you bring me back Zeref?"

The mage was taken back for a second before mockingly asking, "Why? Well can't a brother revive his younger sibling from the dead simply because he missed him?"

Natsu simply shot him a look of ' _be serious with me'._

Zeref's mood turned solemn as he sighed and admitted the plan, "Natsu I need you to listen for this is important.", he nodded and his brother continued, "Good. Now I really did start on my quest to revive you, but some things happened and well I ended up cursed by a god. The more I care for life the more I take. So, I created demons to hopefully end my eternal life, unfortunately none were strong enough to do so. And then I came back to the idea of bringing you back to life, but this time as an etherious so that you would have enough power to end me. You are now the ultimate demon Etherious Natsu Dragneel, or for short E.N.D, with the power of curses and magic combined you are the strongest being in existence. Or you will be. But before I continue, I need to now will you help me?"

To say Natsu was shocked would be an understatement. Obviously, he didn't want to kill his brother, he loved him, but what choice did he have. It was his fault that all this happened, that meant it was his responsibility to fix it. The least Natsu could do was abide by his brother's wishes. He nodded in response.

"Thank you Natsu. Now since you aren't strong enough as you are currently, I will send you to be taught the strongest magic, dragon-slaying magic. My friend Igneel so kindly offered to teach you in exchange for our participation in his plan. But he will explain that to you, for now let us speak of your demonic side now. All of my demons have and instinct to find and kill me, for now you won't since you are newly awakened, but the stronger you get the stronger the urge will. This will be our last day before the final battle so I must let you know that I love you Natsu."

Zeref now had tears rolling down his face, as did Natsu but much heavier, they hugged each other tightly for a long time both not willing to let go.

5 years later

Natsu stood at the edge of a cliff thinking of that day over half a decade ago. True to his word Natsu never saw his brother again. Now Igneel was going to preform Dragon Soul on him so he could regain his energy while the rest of the slayers were sent to the future. The plan was to send then to an ethernano rich environment so the dragons could regain their strength in order to defeat the Apocalypse Dragon Acnologia. Natsu wouldn't go since Zeref would be helping with the portal and the demonic tendencies would take over. It was then decided that Natsu would stay and live through the time until he was needed.

The mighty Fire-Dragon King stood proudly before him chest puffed out, shoulders back, trying to make himself seem even bigger than he already was. _He's a freaking dragon he doesn't need to look any bigger!_ Sighing Natsu crouched down then bowed his head, a goodbye in dragon customs.

"Stop that brat, this is not goodbye, this is until we meet again."

The boy sighed again before standing up and grumbled, "Yeah whatever ya overgrown lizard."

The dragon laughed loudly, "I will miss you, but it is now time to begin." He then stretched his wings their full extent, still trying to make himself look bigger, and began channeling his magic. Natsu sweat dropped at his antics but quickly began to channel his magic also. The red beast then bellowed, "Dragon Soul!"

Igneel started to glow and then his body broke off into chunks of golden light before floating down to the boy and fading into him. Slowly but surely the dragon disappeared without a trace, leaving just the child.

Natsu suddenly felt something warm on his face, he brought a hand to his check and felt something wet. When he brought it down Natsu saw it was water? He was crying! That bastard had made him cry, _Damn, I haven't cried since the day I was revived._

"Until we meet again.", and with that Natsu walked away from the edge, towards the forest where his next adventure would begin.

 **Hi this is the author! This is my first fanfiction, please review so I know what I can improve upon. Also, I won't be able to update regularly but I will let you know if I decide to abandon the story. Sorry the first few chapters won't be long but eventually they will get longer. Hope you enjoy, the next chapter will be called During Those 400 Years.**


	2. During Those 400 Years

_**The Curse of Memory**_

 _ **During Those 400 Years (part one)**_

400 years ago (roughly)

It has been months since Igneel "disappeared", Natsu started a quest to train and explore the world. Meeting new people, learning unusual magic, and observe history being written. He wanted to get the full human experience. It was actually quite ironic, not being able to truly experience human life until he was a demon. Natsu laughed out loud then continued following his nose down the path.

The dragon slayer had to be careful of losing his focus while walking, if he were to aimlessly drift his demonic instincts would take over and lead him towards his brother. Although he could suppress the urge till it was much weaker, that was only if he was focusing. This made Natsu immensely depressed, for he loved his brother and it only served to remind him of his ugly destiny. On the bright side the pink haired boy could communicate with his brother if need be, for all of Natsu's thoughts were connected to the book, so if Zeref wanted to speak all he would have to do was write inside.

Shaking his thoughts away from depressing matters Natsu focused on the task at hand. The village in the valley were complaining that bandits were hiding in the woods, attacking everyone that tried travel along the path. The village elders had been trying to get the Magic Council to send reinforcements but all attempts had failed thus far. This was due to the fact that the new body of government was in shambles and had no real chain of command, so that meant no one had time to deal with a small trading village in the middle of nowhere. So, when Natsu told them he was a wizard they offered to pay him handsomely if he were to get rid of them, which the boy graciously accepted since "the human experience" didn't come without a price, more specifically food. He didn't need lodging since he was more comfortable outside (and no one would let a ten-year-old without supervision in), but he did need food.

Suddenly a rustle in the woods knocked him out of his thoughts. The sound had come from behind two large oaks, Natsu could see a dark figure looming behind them. Unfortunately, curiosity had gotten the better of him as he decided to get closer. As he was inches away vines shot out from behind the trees. Lucky for Natsu, he has great reflexes and dodged before they could hit him. The dragon slayer quickly got into his fighting stance a few feet away, followed by the figure unveiling themselves.

The figure turned out to be a man with long hair that reached the ground. His hair was a dark purple mess that covered most of his face, but it could be seen that he had black eyes. His tall and lean figure was covered in dirt and branches, not to mention the clothes he wore looked like they were coming apart at the seams. But what really caught Natsu's attention was his smell. It wasn't human, and it faintly smelled of his brother.

"Damn you child. Stay still so I can kill you!", Natsu mentally shouted, ' _No one would do that you idiot!_ ', after the proclamation of the man. Soon thorny vines began to shoot out of the ground, attacking Natsu from all sides. For a few minutes the dragon slayer was dancing around, trying to avoid the rushes of vines in their attempts to rip him to shreds.

Finally reaching his limit Natsu released a large torrent of flames, igniting the plants and stopping the attack. This seemed to shock the man for his jaw dropped for a second before he recollected himself and smirked.

"Impressive child, for such a display I will award you my name. Listen carefully human for this will be the last name you ever learn. I am Mard Geer."

"That's great but why do you smell funny?", Natsu shouted. Meanwhile Mard had a look of uncertainty, ' _Smell?'._ Sensing his confusion, the mage added," You don't smell human."

The man laughed, "Yes you are right, I am not human. I am a demon, a demon from the Books of Zeref!"

Natsu's eyes widened, but not from fear, from shock. He was not expecting to meet any of the demons his brother had created. And his brother made clear instructions to steer clear of them at all costs. _Well since Zeref-nii isn't here now…_

The demon, seeing the child's face, thought that he was well terrified and began his next assault.

Xxxxxxxx

20 minutes later

The two fighters now stood on a plain, the trees in the surrounding area were now uprooted and burned. They were battered and bruised but still revving to fight, both running towards each other to get the final punch. Both fists collided and a surge of wind blew whatever remained standing, down. They smirked at each other before collapsing on the ground.

They stayed like that for a while then Natsu just burst out laughing.

Mard Geer was very confused and more than a little annoyed but he was also impressed with the boy's skills. It had then dawned on him that he never bothered to ask the boy's name, realizing his mistake the demon implored the child, "Human! Since you did so well, I shall ask your name." That just motivated Natsu to laugh harder. Now Mard was getting more annoyed, "What is so funny wretched imp!"

"Well,", Natsu stood up and walked over to the demon with the biggest shit eating grin on his face, "First off I'm not human. I'm like you, a demon of Zeref. And Secondly you just got your ass handed to you and you're still acting all high and mighty." The pink haired boy stretched his hand out to Mard Geer, "My name is Natsu. Natsu Dragneel or E.N.D whatever you prefer. That was a good fight, want to be friends?"

The demon was speechless, how could his hubris let him be so blind. How could he have not detected Natsu was a demon? Mard wanted nothing more than to smack that hand away and spit on himself for being so weak, but then he looks at the boy's face, more specifically his smile, for it had turned genuine and for some reason Mard only wanted to follow that radiant smile for the rest of his life. With that the demon grabbed his hand and Natsu lifted him up. Their injuries were already healing as the two demons began walking towards the village.

Xxxxxxxx

At the village

By the time the two demons reached the village they were fully healed and the only evidence of them being in a fight were their ripped clothes. On the way to there Natsu had a talk with Mard Geer about human culture and how he couldn't just kill everyone on sight. When Mard asked why, Natsu said that humans were very limited thinkers and tend to blame anything not normal for the cause of their problems, also that since there is more of them, it would be best to stay under the radar. But most importantly so that you could get food from them, as they make delicious cuisines. Of course, the older demon sweat dropped at this, but before he could comment they had reached the trading village.

As they entered Natsu whispered to Mard, "Whatever I say go with it okay?"

His jaw dropped and was about to reply when he was interrupted by an old man who had hobbled over to them asking, "Did you defeat the bandits boy? And who is this with you? He wasn't with you before."

The villagers had now gathered, whispering, some had even grabbed weapons that they just barely hid. Doubt was hovering over their heads like a sword. Mard was quickly losing his composure and began to gather the ethernano in the air, but then he looked over towards Natsu and he didn't even seem fazed. His face was stone, as he observed the crowd then like a switch, he smiled the same grin that he had given the defeated demon.

"Your bandit problem is no more, as for this man, he is my brother.", the dark-haired demon's jaw dropped and once again before he was allowed to say anything he was cut off, "He was always with me, you just might not have seen him as he is extremely shy."

Mard was waiting for the villagers to start rallying together, calling him a liar, a demon. But it didn't, instead they simply stood there then nodded and began to walk away, thanking the boy that saved their town. He was astonished and confused. _Why aren't they questioning him?_

The same elder as prior coughed, getting the attention of everyone before he brought out a large bag filled with coins. "For your help boy, here is your reward."

Natsu nodded before taking the bag, "Thanks old man, alright we're gonna stock up before heading out."

Whispers spread again, but the man silenced them once more, "Are you sure you don't want to stay, the world isn't safe for a young man and his little brother."

"No, we're fine, we both know magic so if anyone thinks to mess with us then they're going to have some trouble."

Xxxxxxxx

Later That Night

Now it was dark as Natsu and Mard were sitting around a fire, cooking a deer they had hunted together. Although it was manly the dragon slayer and his senses that had been responsible for the meal.

As they waited, Mard's mind kept going back to their villagers and their earlier confrontation. Somethings just weren't making sense, _Are humans really that gullible or was Natsu just that convincing? And the way they just accepted his lies, it just doesn't connect._

The pinkie seemed to pick up on the other's uneasiness because he calmly asked, "Is something wrong Mard?"

"Oh, ah…", he stammered unable to find the right words, "Well", he took a breath then continued, "So, when we were at the village, why did you say we were brothers?"

That got Natsu to stop tending to the fire, but he quickly trained his eyes on the flames, "Well it would have been easier to say we were friends but then they might have thought that you were a pedophile and that wouldn't have been good. And you couldn't be my father as you're too young. So, brother worked best in that situation. When I get older, we can say that we're friends if that makes you more comfortable."

Mard nodded, "Yes that would be best, also why did those villagers just believe you? Surely those pathetic humans could tell what you said were lies? Why did they trust you so easily?"

Natsu's eyes hadn't moved yet, he almost seemed mesmerized by the flickering light, "Well I guess you could say I earned their trust, I had been there a couple of days before I went after you. Also, I'm only ten so that also probably helped. Everyone thinks that children are too naïve to lie."

The demon wasn't convinced, "But why?! It doesn't make any since! There is no way those lowly humans would just— "

"Shut up!", Natsu hissed.

And that he did, well for a few moments at least, before another question came to mind that should have had priority in the first place, "Why is it that you consort with humans anyway?"

A sad smile formed on his face, "Because while they can be a little quick to assume, they can hold so much compassion for those they care for, and also there is so much to learn from them. They have this unique ability to create the most beautiful things, _", which is something I really miss, "_ and even in the toughest of places they can band together to find hope." _Another thing I've found myself lacking._

Mard thought on this for a while, contemplating what the younger demon had said, "Yes, I suppose so."

Seeing that the food was ready the two ate in silence, Natsu still watching the fire and Mard Geer the sky. Eventually the dark-haired man fell asleep, leaving Natsu in his fire gazing. The dragon slayer got tired and decided to lay down next to the source of heat. His eyes never left the fire once. As he felt his eyes grow heavy Natsu whispered one last thing before he went to sleep.

"I miss you nii-san."


	3. During Those 400 Years (part two)

**If you want to know what Natsu looks like: he physically looks like he did at the end of the anime (but without the scars) he wears baggy white pants with a brown belt, black arm bands, back combat boots, and a sleeveless black muscle shirt, he doesn't wear the scarf Igneel gave him but hides it in a re-quip space. He has his hair like Mard's. Mard Geer looks like he does in the anime. Also, I forgot to mention that Mard is not as strong as he was in the anime, since at this point, he was still newly awakened and not at full potential. This will change the further down the timeline we go.**

 _ **The Curse of Memory**_

 _ **Those 400 Years (part two)**_

Twenty-five years later

Years after their first encounter Natsu and Mard have been touring the world. Though this is not all that they have been doing, Mard has been teaching Natsu about the etherious and how to use their curses while Natsu has been teaching Mard how to interact with humans, and together they have been training to become stronger. Although Natsu has been progressing faster than Mard.

Natsu was now thirty-five, but only look to be about eighteen. Once his body was fully grown, he had stopped aging completely.

As of late the two have taken a break from training and are currently visiting the coastline of Fiore. While coming down the mountains they spotted the largest settlement they had ever seen and decided to test Mard's interaction skills. The last time they had visited a human camp was seven years ago, and when the dark-haired one had decided he was going to communicate with the locals they ended up chased out of town with pitchforks and fire. Needless to say, it was decided that they would stay away from humans for a little while.

Upon entering the town, the demons had noticed a depressing and tense atmosphere. Quite unsettling really, from their experience people only get like this if a disaster had recently struck. As they walked deeper into the town, they became unsettled by what they saw. Or rather what they didn't see, for there was a large marina without a single boat in it and the only people they actually saw were crying women and the occasional sorrowful drunk. The two looked at each other, nodded, then set off towards the nearest tavern.

The closest one they found was called _The Boar's Hat_ on the outskirts of town. The tavern had an unusual architecture: the building itself was round with a tall, tiled roof that held multiple balconies. The inside was a mix of stone and wood, it reeked of alcohol, sweat, and cigarettes. The stools and tables were made of stumps while empty barrels and peanuts shells decorated the floor. Finding seats at the bar Natsu and Mard took in the scenery. Men were holding stock in the place, and while most were blackout drunk the rest were so intoxicated that the could barely sit in their chairs. Their jovial shouts of drunkenness overpowering the snores of their friends.

A simultaneous thought went through the two's heads, _What in the world happened here?_

Seeing new patrons, the barkeep walked overs to them from behind the bar. His ragged blonde hair falling out of the low ponytail it was in, he wore a white linen with a black vest, and black bloomers. The barkeep only looked to be in his early twenties, and slightly out of breath as he came to greet them.

"Hi I'm Mel, what can I do for you folks on this fine evening."

The purple haired man ordered a glass of wine while the pink haired one ordered a whiskey on fire. After shooting the latter a questioning look Mel went to get their respective drinks. When he brought them their orders, he wasn't sure what he was expecting the pinkie to do but drinking the flames certainly wasn't it!

The older man looked at the barkeep over the rim of the glass, "Oh don't mind him, he does that with everything. Now if you don't mind, why is it that most of the town is caught in a dreary haze?"

Mel's bright smile faltered and he froze, as did the rest of the men in the tavern. One fellow with a beer just centimeter's away from his lips unfroze and slowly put is mug on the table before elaborating, "It's due to The Demon of The Deep."

Natsu and Mard tensed for just a second then put on their poker faces. The latter slyly replying, "Is that so.", while humming into his glass.

The man from before bumped the table as he rushed over to Mard, seizing the collar of his shirt, while shouting, "You think something's funny? People have died to that _thing._ And you think that you can just mock us?"

Natsu now rested his glass on the bar counter then stood up, gently resting his hand on the man's, "I must apologize for my friend here, he isn't exactly the best at talking to people. But please let's calm down and deal with this like civilized gentlemen." The dragon slayer released the man's hand and motioned for him to do the same, which he did. Seeing the situation defuse Natsu released a breath he didn't know he had taken.

"Now if you don't mind, what exactly is this Demon of The Deep? We're mages and might be able to help you."

Murmurs could be heard, asking questions like _'Can they really do it?' to 'There might be hope yet.'_

But the man who had attacked was skeptical, "Even if you are mages there is no way that you could do anything to that _thing._ That _monster_ has taken out three ships this week! We've already contacted the council but even they couldn't put a scratch on it! So, what makes you think you're so special?"

The hope quickly diminished and the patrons went back to drowning their sorrows. This time it was Mard that spoke next, "Well my pink haired from here is a dragon slayer, and I have my Thorn c- ", he was cut off by Natsu coughing and shooting him a dangerous look, "erm, magic. We are plenty powerful enough to take care of your problem."

 _Dragon slayer._ It was a powerful term, everyone knew that the Age of Dragons was over because of them, their magic was too powerful and became a Forbidden Art. If any were caught having this magic, they were to be immediately reported to the council. But these were desperate times, so just this once the people would let it slide. Besides this was an extreme problem, so it needed to be dealt with extreme measures.

"Now if you please give us all of your information it would be very helpful."

Xxxxxxxx

The Next Day

Clouds dominated the sky while wind blew in continuously off the ocean. Even being on the harbor docks you could feel the strong gusts. And that was where Natsu and Mard were, waiting for any signs of disturbance in the water.

After last night the two had gotten all the information they needed to find the Demon of the Deep. From what they knew, it was a shark-like creature. From the sailor's recollection, they knew that anytime the creature felt a hostile threat it would attack, and that it hid underneath the docks. So, here they were standing on the farthest dock from the town, emitting magic pressure, trying to get the attention of the demon. Which didn't take long as they soon felt something brush against the docks before what looked like a shark erupt from the water. The creature landed on the dock hunched over, observing the people that had come to attack.

Seeing the demon more closely it could be seen that 'it' was a lizardman with dark pink scales, dotted with black, a dark red plate with a fin protrusion covered the top of his head, he also had a tail and a golden chin plate. His body was massive with muscles on top of muscles and he wore brown vest with brown pants. But the most predominate feature was the fin blades that extended from his forearms.

Natsu smirked and looked at Mard, his face radiated arrogance that essentially said 'I was right'. Mard rolled his eyes before shooting the other a look of 'Whatever, can we please focus here'. They then got into their respective battle stances and began preparing their first attack.

The lizardman man did the same, calling out, "Slash Arm!" in a deep voice.

Natsu jumped back while Mard did a series of hand gestures before forming a thorn shield to take the hit. Unfortunately, it didn't completely block the strike, causing the demon to roll to the side, but he still received a gash on his upper arm. Grunting Mard stopped on his knees, grasping his injury, he nodded to his partner who did the same. Natsu then charged at the beast, fists ablaze, and landed a cross on its jaw, spit coming out as he stumbled back. Rubbing the inflicted area, he smirked, under his breath he called out the next incantation, Super Armor.

The dragon slayer's eyes had widened after hearing the spell, he then quickly coated his feet in flames, and the two had begun to trade blows. Eventually the two realized that neither were going to win so they jumped back, huffing trying to grasp their breaths. Natsu had slashes littered around his body, which were oozing blood. While his opponent had singes on his clothes and a few burn marks but other then that there wasn't must physical damage, make no mistake he definitely had damage and that was to the structural integrity of his armor. It was clear that neither were going to win with simple hand to hand combat. The shark-lizardman dove off the side of the dock, into the sea. The dragon slayer looked over to his partner still clinging onto his arm, the slash had hit bone and was going to take a while before it could be useable in combat. _He still needs time._

Looking over the dock he saw the water turn black, staring into the murky water Natsu was oblivious to the dangers until a hand grabbed him and dragged him down.

Under the sea Natsu looked around and saw they were in a black sphere of water. Trying to make a fire to help his perception, he quickly realized that his magic wasn't working. Suddenly the beast appeared in front him, " _Welcome to my black waters of darkness. This is my Curse Tenchi Kaimei. Here your magic won't work, and even if it did, you'll eventually die from the water.",_ the voice came out distorted but the message was all the same.

Natsu quickly began to try and swim out of the sphere, when he was almost at the edge, he felt something grab his leg. Turning his head even though he already knew what it was, the Demon of The Deep was smirking as he held onto Natsu before he flung the mage back towards the center. Trying to balance himself he then prepared for the series of attacks that were coming. _Come on Mard, hurry up already!_

The demon began his onslaught on the dragon slayer, from punching him in the gut to slamming into him with its massive fists, there was no mercy. This continued for a couple of minutes, now Natsu was limply floating, uncapable of anything besides sinking. Bored the fight was over the lizard man prepared a final strike, but before it could hit the beaten man caught the fist an evil glint in his eyes. The demon in that moment felt true, unbridled fear, and found himself unsure of what to do next.

" _Took ya long enough!"_

The lizardman was at a loss but then Natsu pointed down with his free hand, following the direction he had pointed a large flower with vines could be seen coming up from the deep. Then in a flash he was captured inside the flower and Natsu swam up to the surface.

Breaking free of the water the dragon slayer then climbed onto the dock with the help of the vines and flower. Coughing up the water he had almost died from, Natsu then flipped onto his back, taking in deep breaths.

"Why'd you wait ya bastard?"

"Well Prison Flower needs time to execute. Especially if the participant isn't willing to be inside. Besides if you didn't want to be injured as much then you shouldn't have pulled punches.", Mard chided.

"Yeah whatever, you just like seeing me hurt. Anyways is Prison Flower still good or does it need reinforcement?"

Mard walked over to the flower and began to inspect it, "Its perfectly fine, now what do you want to do with it?"

Natsu sat up and looked at his partner, "Send it back to camp,", he then stood up and looked back at the town, "we're going to do damage control now."

The two went back to the tavern since that's where most of the people were, it was decided that everyone should stay inside on the day of the hunt. Upon entering all chattering had ceased and everyone brought their attention to them, expectant looks in their eyes. The mages made their way to the bar and sat down before ordering the same drinks as yesterday. Mel quickly brought them the drinks and then asked the question everyone wanted answered, "Is it dead?"

Natsu took in some flames then answered, "Yes, but it wasn't a demon. It was just a sea wyvern."

All exhaled from his response and then began to party. The beast that had caused them so many problems was finally gone!

After celebrating with the locals for a couple hours Mard decided it was time for them to go. While some were dejected that the heroes were leaving so soon, they all thanked the mages for saving them. As they were leaving Natsu realized something.

"Sorry I never asked but what is the name of this town?"

Mel seemed surprised for a second then composed himself, "Oh, I suppose so, well this the port town, Hargeon."

"Hargeon?", Natsu repeated it in his head before smiling, "Well I will definitely remember this place!"

The barkeep was speechless, as were the rest of the patrons, the man's smile was dazzling and unforgettable. It was the kind of smile that could convince entire armies to stop and lay down their weapons.

Mel shook his head and the shouted, "In celebration of the defeat of the Demon of The Deep all drinks are free tonight!"

He was met with a chorus of cheers and wallops as the party continued.

Xxxxxxxx

In the mountains outside of Hargeon

"So, do you think we should release him?"

Mard nodded, "I suppose we can but I'm going to tie him up. He might still be hostile."

With a flick of the hand the petals of Prison Flower began to fall apart and the demon they had captured was revealed, sitting in the center with many thick vines holding him in place, looking extremely pissed.

"What do you want humans? Come to gloat?"

Natsu chuckled while Mard had a mild look of horror on his face, _Is that what I sounded like when I first met Natsu?_ Though he quickly shook it off and replace it with a look of superiority. "First off introductions, I am Mard Geer and this,", gesturing to the pink haired man, "Is Natsu Dragneel, or E.N.D, but he prefers Natsu. And what is your name?"

"Torafuzar.", the demon huffed out.

"Pleasure, now, if you don't mind, why exactly is a Demon of Zeref, such as yourself, wasting their time attacking a human port town?"

Torafuzar tensed, _So, they know what I am,_ then relaxed as he tried to come up with a plan of escape. He realized the they hadn't bothered to cover his fore blades, he began cutting while talking to keep them distracted, "Well it was justified, I had been there long before any of the humans had settled and once they discovered I was there they attacked me. It seemed only fair that I attack the ships that the humans had built."

"I see, Natsu do you still want to go along with your plan?"

He was _so_ _close_ just a few more swipes.

"Yeah, I think he'll make a great fit. So Torafuzar, you know your name's a little long I think I'll just call you Tora, anyway how about you join us. Together we are form the wandering band of demons, Tartaros. We etherious need to stick together eh?"

It was at this moment that the vines broke away. But the demon couldn't do anything but stare, he was completely shocked and at a loss for words. And before he even knew it Natsu was standing before him, hand extended with the biggest grin he had ever seen. And Torafuzar knew that he would devote himself to the man that had saved him (even if he didn't know it at the time). The demon felt like as if a light had come into his dark sea and shown him how to break the surface of the water. Reaching up Torafuzar grabbed the hand and allowed himself to be brought into the light.

As the three demons sat around a fire eating deer under the stars Torafuzar felt the need to ask some burning questions.

"If I might inquire, how is it that you knew I was and etherious when I had no clue that you two were?"

"Feel free Tora,", Natsu encouraged, "see I smelt the scent of one of us as soon as we got into town, but Mard didn't believe me so we asked the locals, got some information, and then went in search of you. As soon as we saw you, we knew that you were one of us."

"Ok, and about Tartaros, what exactly is it?"

It was Mard that answered this time, "Like he said before it will be a wandering band of demons but also something more. It will be a family, together we will collect all the etherious we can and try to make a home for all the discarded experiments that Zeref so harshly left behind. We will also try to improve the relations with humans and our reputation."

Torafuzar was at a loss of words, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that he was bitter about Zeref leaving and had just taken out his anger on the humans that had stumbled in his way. And a family full of beings just like him? Why it sounded like a dream, but one look in Natsu's eyes and he knew it was possible.

Nodding the scaly demon then added, "One last thing, Mard you have Thorn Curse, but Natsu only used fire magic so, if I might ask, what is your Curse?"

Natsu stiffened, his eyes focusing on the fire, "Maybe not tonight but I will tell you eventually okay."

He then left, leaving the two other demons to their meals. It was madly uncomfortable and Torafuzar felt at fault for disturbing the peace, but when he looked over to Mard he noticed he had a distant look in his eyes.

"Do you know what his Curse is?"

"No,", the dark-haired demon looked up to the sky with a sad smile, "I've known him for over twenty years now, and I've asked him that same question a number of times. He always answers the same. I don't know why he won't tell us."

 _The next day the three set off in search of more demons. From rumors to quests, they would hunt down every clue they could find. Eventually they collected many demons from all over and gave them a home within the walking band. In just under a century all the demons that would except Natsu's offer became a part of the Tartaros family. Then they built a home on the floating cube so the humans could never find and attack them. All were taught about human culture and how to interact with them properly. Though after a few minor misunderstandings it was decided that they would separate themselves from human society until a more accepting generation was formed._

 _But still the name Tartaros became a beacon of hope in the magical creature community, and a new saying was formed "While it is a human's hell, Tartaros is a monster's paradise." Humans could come visit the place, which many greedy ones did, for if you were to make it to the sanctuary, you would be granted any wish you desired. And no wish was beyond their limits, from bringing the dead back to life to turning the land fertile, Tartaros could do it, if you had the balls to search for it. Which was impossible for most, being as it never stayed in one place long and was one of the most well-guarded secrets of the magical creature community._

 _Sadly, not all good things happened for quite a few demons still like to attack the humans. It gave them a sense of joy that none of the cultured ones understood and shamed them for. These savage demons decided that just to spite the ones that, 'thought they were better', they would attack more humans in the name of their creator. Though eventually the civilized demons had enough of it and decided to form a squad of the most elite to seal away these savages, they became known as The Nine Demon Gates._

 _And then an idea came, the human mages had been forming Magic Guilds that would take requests from the people (that required magical assistance) and fulfil them for money, so it was decided that Tartaros would become a guild for magical creatures. And that they would operate differently, people would take on quests to try and find the legendary wish granting sanctuary and if they succeed then the guild would pay them. It was known as a lost cause and eventually the name of the guild was forgotten in history but once in a blue moon, a desperate person would find their way to the doors of the guild._

 _As for Natsu he became the guild master, known to most as Master E.N.D, and he still hasn't killed his brother yet. He can't until Acnologia has been dealt with, but Natsu still misses him. And he continually observes and records history in its actuality. For while he waits for the dragon slayers to come through the Eclipse Gate, he has kept in check with the ethernano supply in the world so he knows when the time will come and he will be force to act._

 **Yo! I'm back again, so just some notes; none of the demons you meet prior to x777 are as strong as they are in the anime, so anytime in the past they will be weaker than expected (there is a reason), the personalities of the demons are different since they are so young and haven't fully developed a hatred of humans but their main characteristics will still be the same (Mard will still be condescending, Tora will still be a straight forward person, etc.), in case you missed it there is a reason why Natsu hasn't killed Zeref yet and it's not because he's too weak to it is due to the fact that if he did kill him then he would die too and until Acnologia is dealt with he can't fulfil this task, and there will be flashbacks to when he meets the other demons but they will be inside future chapters because they are relevant to the plot, not just because I feel like it. If there was something else that I need to answer or if you have some input on the future of the story feel free to contact me! The next chapter will be x777, yes you heard right folks we will finally be reaching the present!**


	4. x777

_**Curse of Memory**_

 _ **X777**_

July 7th, x777

Crocus

Layla Heartfilia stood before a massive gate with radial designs and golden plating. The Celestial Spirit mage was with the king in a hidden section of the castle. Today she would open the Eclipse Project and her daughter would be freed from the Heartfilia Mission. The only problem was that she currently had eleven of the twelve Zodiac Keys, Aquarius was on the western continent with no way to get her. Layla couldn't wait any longer, she began the ritual despite the protests from behind. Using her life force to compensate the mage opened the gate and four golden lights shot out, followed by a blonde woman in robes.

The blonde was wearing a white dress with a blue corset and a white robe with a blue half-cape on top. She took in her surroundings before noticing that the children she had left with weren't with her now. "Excuse me but I can't help but notice my children aren't with we, do you know where they are?"

Layla answered, "Did you mean those balls of lights that came out before you?"

The blonde now had a look a panic, "Oh dear, that is a major problem.", she shook her head, "But where are my manners my name is Anna Heartfilia, and I assume that you are my descendant?", she gestured at the other blonde as she asked.

Layla nodded, "Uh yes I am, Layla Heartfilia. This is quite awkward, meeting your past ancestor."

Just as the two were about to shake hands Layla fainted. The toll of the magic ritual taking root in her body. Anna caught her and tried to keep her conscious while the king yelled to his guards to get Layla to a healer as soon as possible. It would later be discovered that because she used her life force, she had developed Magic Deficiency Disease. The mage declined any help once awake, saying that she wanted to spend her last moments in her house with her husband and daughter.

Xxxxxxxx

Now it was night and Anna stood on the balcony of the castle looking into the distance, planning her next move. Layla had made it clear that she did not know if the era had enough ethernano for the dragons to recover as she wanted for her child to have the freedom she did not. The time traveler absolutely needs to find the kids. That took priority. But still that left a very important question unanswered, _Would the dragons be able to heal?_ Then there was also Natsu, _where is he?_ He was still a key element in their plans.

Lost in her thoughts she hadn't noticed the king was now standing next to her, "Fret not traveler, for the end is not here yet. But I must ask what will you do next?"

"I must find the children first. And after that I'm not sure… I guess I could look for Natsu, he would be able to help. He probably knows whether this era will be able to support the dragons.", Anna's look of query then changed to that of realization, "Actually he was supposed to meet us when the gate was to be opened."

The short man then built upon her inquiry, "Then that warrants the question; Where is he now?" 

Somewhere in the Mountain Ranges Outside of the Capital of Fiore

"So, the time has come."

The night sky was dark yet bright at the same time. The brilliant contrast between the empty universe and the burning stars made Natsu wish that the peaceful moments like these would last forever. Unfortunately, fate had another idea, sighing the demon brought his upward head back down then turned around to face the demons surrounding him.

Natsu spread his right arm wide and curled the other to his stomach then lifted his head, "Just remember that Mard is in charge and not to give him too hard a time.", he winked and disappeared in a burst of flames.

The Demons of Tartaros shifted uncomfortably, they had felt the magic of Eclipse open, the reminder of their cruel creator was like a wound reopened. Deep down they felt a certain uneasiness come from the ancient magic, the sort of feeling that one gets if they feel when a disaster is about to strike. All they could do was hope that everything would be okay.

Crocus

"Then that warrants the question; Where is he now?"

The two sat in silence when flames burst into existence behind them, quickly turning around they waited in anticipation for the fire to die down. The flames disappeared as fast as they appeared, leaving behind a man bowing before the two. The man wore a sleeveless black cloak and hood, which obscured his face, white pants with a gray sash, and no shirt or shoes. As he rose it could be seen that his eyes glowed red before dying down.

"I heard someone call?"

The mage and king were baffled, unable to form words or actions. Anna seemed to get her bearings together as lifted her jaw off the floor, something clicked in her mind and she leaned forward as she spoke.

"Is that you, Natsu?"

The man lifted his hood, revealing a head of spikey pink locks and a feral smile. Once he saw the blonde his grin turned nostalgic, "It's been a while, Teacher Anna."

Anna crashed into Natsu, holding him tight in her arms, while it had only been a couple days since she last saw him, Anna knew that it had been over four hundred years for him. They stayed like that for a few moments before Anna released him and became serious.

"While catching up would be nice, we have bigger problems at hand. For starters, all the slayers have been spread throughout the land, Eclipse separated us during the crossover. I have no idea if this era has enough ethernano to support the recovering dragons. And most importantly, Acnologia, do you know where he is and how powerful he has gotten?"

The pink haired man grew stiff at the name, his face holding a solemn shape, "I fear that the wait might have been too long, for he has grown exponentially in power. And at the state of the dragons now, they would die instantaneously, given a decade or two it still might be enough, but I wouldn't put too much money on that happening."

Horror showed in the eyes of the two, this knowledge could only result in that. Dragons were known as the most powerful beings in existence, if five dragons wouldn't be able to stand against one. It wasn't a thought they wanted to finish.

Anna, still in deep fear, asked with just the tiniest bit of hope, "What about you, you're over four hundred years old, and the strongest etherious your brother created, surely you could?"

"Yes, I could,", he could see the hope spark in their eyes, "but if we did fight almost a third of the world would be destroyed. So, unless you could find a way for us to fight in some sort of pocket dimension, that could contain our power, I see no way that we could fight."

"Okay,", disappointment clear in her voice, "we can come up with a plan for that later, you earlier said the dragons don't stand a chance, does that mean there isn't enough ethernano for them to heal in this time period?", the logical side had now taken over the blonde.

"While there is enough ethernano in this era for the healing of the dragons. I'm afraid there isn't enough for a complete healing or time necessary for them to.", Natsu sighed and put his hands behind his back while walking towards the balcony, "We are lucky that the Black Dragon is still in his slumber, and the only thing that could possibly awaken him would be a large epicenter of magic, or my brother awakening. But only fools would try to find him and even greater fools to try and release his power. But still, I'm afraid that the responsibility of killing Acnologia falls on the dragon slayers, granted they can gain enough power."

"But we don't know where they are, and they're only children! Surely there are mages powerful enough to fight him now!"

"No, Anna, there isn't,", while his tone was calm it had an edge, and Natsu was gripping onto the railing with enough force that cracks were beginning to form, "the mages of this era are weak, compared to the strength of the past mages you are used to, they are weak. Not having any dangers from stronger creatures has made them pathetic. And the only person who I could think that would be strong enough to even scratch it would be Gildarts Clive."

"Gildarts Clive, I know that name,", the king interjected, "he is a part of the strongest wizard guild of our time, Fairy Tail."

Natsu turned around to face the short man, almost surprised that he was there in the first place, "Oh how rude of me," the man bowed before the king, "Toma E. Fiore, king of the kingdom Fiore, it is a pleasure to meet you. As you know my name is Natsu, Natsu Dragneel. But you may know me more famously as E.N.D, Master of Tartaros."

Toma gasped, " _The E.N.D?_ I thought that Tartaros was just a child's tale!"

Anna's expression was of pure confusion, "Tartaros? What is that?"

"You mean you've never heard of it?!", the king exclaimed, but then she shot him a look of ' _I'm from four hundred years in the past'_ and the king calmed down to explain, "It was a story that my parents told me, a guild for magical creatures. There were rumors that it was started by The Demons of Zeref and it was supposed to be a sanctuary against humans. Built with the hopes that one day they would reconnect and wouldn't be feared or hunted. But some demons were still attacking so a force of the most powerful members were gathered to deal with them. They were undeniably powerful, but their leader was notorious. He was ruthless and limitless in power, said to have been stronger than a thousand armies of the most powerful mages. He was known as the End of All Beings."

"Yes that about sums it up,", Natsu rose up and put a hand to his chin, a smirk predominate on his face, "But you have forgotten something quite important, Tartaros has a special outreach program, _'if one is to take up the journey to find this magical sanctuary, then upon finding the ever moving guild they shale be granted any wish they desire'_ and also I feel I should tell you that stories tend to over exaggerate on some details."

While Toma fumbled over his next words, Anna felt the need to question the demon in front of her, "So this is what you have been doing for four centuries, cleaning up your brother's mess?"

"Among other things."

"But you're just a child!", the man sputtered.

Natsu tipped his head back, running his hand through his hair while sighing dramatically, "Age can be deceiving. I am much older than I care to admit.", he looked down at the old man, "Besides, to me you are the child."

While the king once again failed to form words, the mage chided the demon, "Now you stop that, anymore teasing and he just might pass out. Back to our problem here, how are we going to find the children?"

Focusing on the blonde, Natsu regained his stoic composure, "I already have a solution for that. But _they_ aren't going to like it.", he mumbled the last part so the two couldn't hear.

"Really and what is it?", Anna mused.

"I will transform myself back into a child and pretend to search for Igneel, but instead look for the lost slayers, as will you of course. If I find them, they will trust me more since I will be a child like them. And anyways if they wake up in this era, they will probably think that their dragons have abandoned them, time travel will mess with the mind a little."

"Who knew you could be so smart Natsu?", while Anna had a light tone the man before her turned sour.

"Four centuries will do that to a person. I have seen the true horrors of humanity and I can't say that I'm the same person that you knew all those years ago. It was my dream that one day the humans would be excepting of us at some point in the future but that has been proven false thus far.", Anna looked as if she was about to say something but he cut her off, "Don't mistake me, it's not that I hate humans. I just understand that they are very flawed and will most likely never accept anything different. Though that does make me a little distasteful towards them, it's not like I would try to eliminate them. That would ruin the whole point of Tartaros."

The king was now curious, "And that is?"

"To show that we aren't the vicious creatures that we are made out to be, and that we are just like humans. That we feel and hurt just like you, and like humans not all of us are evil. There are just a few that end up ruining everything for the rest of us."

Toma smiled, "I see, as a king you must strive to improve the lives of your people and while you always try your best, not everyone always follows under your rule."

Natsu returned the gesture, "I like you.", he wrapped his arm around Toma's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "How about I do you a favor?"

The king tensed from being so close, "What kind of favor?"

"Anything you want,", he spoke normally now, "the deal of Tartaros is that if you find us then you can have any wish granted. Riches, power, women?", the demon shook the shoulders of Toma, "Come on, I can make any of your dreams come true, the sky's the limit!"

Natsu released him and turned around, leaving the man to think. And that he did, this was probably one of the most important decisions he would ever have to make. This was the chance of a life time and if he chose the wrong wish now then the future was at stake. Not to mention his relationship between the him and Tartaros, they were too strong a player on the board for him not to have them on his side. An enemy like that would destroy the kingdom. He needed to make a wish that would befriend the demon before him, a wish that would make them unbreakable allies. _That's it!_

"Alright I have my wish."

Natsu turned to face the wisher humming as he answered, "Is that so? Then what'll it be?"

"I wish that you and your guild will forever protect the kingdom Fiore."

The demon froze, jaw hanging open so you could see he had unusually large canines, then he burst out laughing, "I knew I liked you, but now I know that you are my new favorite human!"

He continued to laugh for a few more moments, tears coming out of his eyes. Eventually he calmed down leaving a very confused king and mage.

"What's so funny?", demanded Toma.

"It's just that for all of my years, anytime someone asked for a wish, save a few, they would make a demand of selfishness. You could have wished for anything and yet you wished for the safety of your people. It just means that you truly are a great king, you have my respect Toma. And that's not something many people can say they have."

"So, you'll grant it?"

"Of course! I have never denied a wish before, why would I start now? But I do have my own stipulations."

This made the king nervous, "And they are?", he asked with a slight quiver in his voice.

"Oh, calm down friend, it's nothing serious unless you make it.", he hopped onto of the railing, "First off, we won't defend against every threat, only the major ones that can't be dealt with by either the guilds or the wizard saints we will deal with but with no assistance from those I listed unless approved by me. Second, we have the right to terminate your wish if anything is to happen. Thirdly, we also will not deal with any dark guilds of Zeref, it leaves a distaste in the Gate's mouths, also any quests relating to Zeref, demons, and specific magical creatures go to us and only us. And finally, most importantly, you must try to improve the human relations with the demons, try to give my guild a better reputation without mentioning us specifically. Are we at an agreement?"

Toma released a breath that he didn't realized that he had taken, "That is acceptable. I also ask that you regularly come and visit me, update me on the mission and to talk about matters within your guild."

"That works for me, also Anna please do the same with me and the King. I will send a representative here to finalize the deal. If that concludes our business, I have somewhere to be.", he bowed then lifted his head to show his iconic grin, "It was a pleasure."

With that he tipped of the ledge, disappearing from view. Toma and Anna raced over to the balcony railing, trying to see where he crashed to, only to see the last flickering of a flame. They released another breath and rested against the railing.

"He certainly is entertaining."

"I agree, he has definitely changed in four hundred years.", the blonde sighed before standing straight, "I guess I should start to get ready for my quest to find the children."

"Good luck, I hope that your travels will result in success."

"Natsu was right, you are a great king, your majesty."

"Toma, please. Let my servants bring you all your needs."

Anna nodded a left, the king then gained a serious expression as he called over a servant, "Search the library for anything related to Tartaros and the Demons of Zeref. And don't tell anyone what you are doing, once you get everything bring it to my office.", they nodded and left with their orders.

Toma looked up to the sky, hoping that the future would work out in his favor, and that the safety of his people was secure. It was then that he remembered something else about Tartaros and their master, _While unafraid to commit atrocious acts against humanity, E.N.D would much rather smile and make the entire world put down their weapons, then pave a new way for coexistence._ He smiled at the sentiment, many people thought power made you strong, but what truly does is the ability to forgive.

Plutogrim, outside the mountain range of the Fiore capital

Flames appeared before the demons, their master taking the place of them. All were tense upon seeing him as he held a grim expression. A silence held thick in the air and none wanted to disturb it, but eventually one did. It was Mard Geer, wearing his usual outfit yet his smirk was gone instead replaced with a look of pure concern.

"I take it that not all is okay?", he ventured.

"No, not all is okay. We have much to discuss, let us talk.", the master explained to the Nine Demon Gates the entire situation and the necessary precautions that need to be taken. By the end of his speech, all held the same grim expression.

While the night sky was still dark, Natsu could his friends clearly. Their bodies were stoic, faces stone, yet if you looked into their eyes it could be seen that they were barely keeping it together. It was obvious and it broke his heart, he knew they would understand but that didn't make it easier. Having to leave on his mission was going to be painful for all of them, he knew that they still had a mild abandonment issue and he was their anchor. When Natsu gathered them all originally, he had promised never to leave them until the day that Acnologia was to be dealt with and then his brother, at which point his leaving wouldn't matter since they would all disappear anyway. But now he was going to leave prematurely and he knew they weren't going to take it well. While Natsu promised to visit and report in, they knew it wouldn't be the same.

"I am so sorry, but we talked about this. And for your safety I would do anything."

A green haired woman with avian features and talons stepped forward, "We feel your pain master, and while it hurts us, we understand why you are doing this. Just make sure not to forget about us."

The master was close to tears now, "Nothing could ever make me forget you, Kyoka, you all are my family and nothing will ever change that. I love you guys."

He extended his arms and not even the stiffer members like Torafuzar and Keyes could restrain themselves as they tackled their master in a bone crushing group hug. All wanted to cry but they knew if they did it would just make this even harder than it already was. None wanted to disturb the moment, and they didn't, but after a while they released their master and let him stand up.

Surprisingly, while all had stepped back, one demon stayed to hold onto a shoulder of Natsu. The demon had golden eyes and hair, a long golden tail and ears, and his fore arms were black with demonic markings, his name was Jackal.

Jackal held his shoulder tight as he spoke, "There's nothing you can do."

"Please don't make this any harder than it already is."

He squeezed harder after that, "Just shut up and listen. there's nothing you can do, and while we all know that, it doesn't make it any easier. But just know that we thank you.", Natsu was baffled by this, the demon before him was never serious let alone heartfelt, "You gave us a home when no one else wanted us. And you gave us a family when we were all alone. For that we are eternally grateful."

Jackal released his shoulder and stepped back to join the rest of the group where they simultaneously nodded and began to tearfully chant, "While we are all destined for hell, let your journey along the way be filled with adventure, friends, and family. We'll meet to at the gates."

Natsu was in tears now, but he still flashes the same grin he did all those years ago, the one that got the Demons of Zeref to let go of their hatred and start anew. He whispered one last thing before he ignited into flames and disappeared.

The mountain that Igneel trained Natsu on

Natsu now had the body of when he was a child, he had gotten rid of his clothes and made something that was like what he wore four centuries ago. He also wore the scarf Igneel made, thinking that if he wore the scaly thing, then it would sell the story more. It was now morning; the sun rose with brilliant colors in the sky. The golden rays of the star dominated all but beyond that a wonderful array of blues, pinks, oranges, and even purple swirled to create a masterpiece. This was Natsu's favorite place, the mornings were undisturbed and the mountains rose you up so far up that you felt like you were a part of the sky. Sometimes if he was feeling stressed or uncertain, he would come here and wait for the sun, for it always seemed to bring the answers.

The, now, boy took a deep breath, the air here was so clean, compared to the air of the human world. The feeling of the air centuries ago was so pure and unforgettable, even now if you went to the furthest settlement you would still feel the air wasn't the same.

Natsu turned around and began his new journey.

Xxxxxxxx

Days have gone by and Natsu hasn't found anything. Who new finding a bunch of children would be so hard?

A loud grumble erupted from his stomach, scaring off the rabbit he was just about to kill. The boy fell to the ground in depression, mumbling things like _why can't I just get one decent meal,_ to _I never shoulda went on this stupid mission._

Suddenly Natsu felt a great magical pressure and heard a man talking about his magazine. The boy gained an evil smirk as he rose from the ground, a wonderful plan came to mind. He would rob the man in the woods and take whatever money he had to buy some food. He didn't have any human currency since Tartaros never needed it.

As he snuck through the bushes Natsu spotted a clearing. He sat in the middle of it and began to cry very loud, chanting "Why did you leave me dad?"

He felt the man coming closer, but now that he was within proximity Natsu could tell it was an old man. _Great I probably got a pervert._ But still he was hungry so the boy continued to cry until the man was upon him. _Just a little closer._

"You there, boy, why are you crying?"

Natsu turned to see the old man was his height, maybe, with white hair and a mustache, wearing a jester's outfit with a shirt that had a weird symbol on it. He could immediately tell that this man was a Wizard Saint. Natsu knew that he would have to abandon his mission for food, for this man would probably attack him to get his money back and even though the boy was stronger it would raise suspicions if a child was able to defeat one of the most powerful wizards in the country. But he still needed to get out of this situation.

"My-my father l-left me. A-and I don't know where he went!", he sobbed hoping that would scare off the old man. Unfortunately, it only motivated him to get closer.

"Well he can't be far from here; can you tell me what he looks like?"

"He's big and red.", _Maybe if I tell him it's a dragon, he'll finally go away thinking I'm crazy._

The short man shot him a look of confusion, "That's a weird looking father you got their boy. Don't think I've seen any people like that around here."

"He's a dragon.", Natsu corrected.

"Wha- "

"A big red fire dragon!", the boy exclaimed.

"I see, how about you come with me. I can take you somewhere that might be able to help to find your dragon.", the man smiled.

 _Seriously!? That didn't scare him off! Why can't this guy just leave me alone? And does he really think that I'm going to let a strange man lead me somewhere? Hell no!_

Natsu lifted a fiery fist, "Igneel to told me not to let a pervert led me somewhere strange."

The man fell into a depression mumbling, _pervert? That's a new low,_ but he got out of it and said, "I'm not a pervert, my name is Makarov Dreyar. I'm a master of a wizard guild. How about I take you there."

Natsu was about to say no when his stomach erupted again and he shut up. The man smiled at him, to which the boy studied his eyes. Eyes were the doorway to the soul, and could hide no secrets. As he investigated them, he could see genuine concern and a love for children, there was nothing he could find that brought danger. Since he was hungry the boy decided he could always leave later.

"Alright."

Xxxxxxxx

The two now stood before and unusual building that bore the same mark that the man had on his shirt.

"Fairy Tail, that's a stupid name. But I've never heard of a wizard guild what is it?"

The old man was felt a vein pop, then he realized he never asked for the boy's name, "What is your name boy."

"Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

"Well Natsu, do fairies have tails? Or do they not? Do fairies even exist? It is an eternal question and adventure, just like this guild. Here we are family to those who no longer have one. And to answer your question, a wizard guild is a place where mages gather for work. So, what do you say, want to join?"

Makarov had a kind smile on his face when Natsu looked back, and all he could think of was when he first brought his guild together. _Was that what I looked like?_ Maybe this would be the generation that would accept his people.

"Fair Tail, huh? I like it gramps."

While Makarov didn't like being called gramps, he was happy that he had just saved another child. He truly loves all the people in his guild like his own, and nothing they ever did would change that.

A chair was thrown out of the guild and hit the man in the face.

"That's it you brats!", Makarov shouted and raced into the guild to beat up his children, err stop their brawl.

Natsu smiled then followed the man in, the gates closing behind him.

 **What did y'all think? I've been reading your reviews (Thank you so much for all the comments!) and I tried to incorporate what you asked for but into my vision. While it might not be perfect, I think this story coming along great. Also, I feel I should mention that Natsu does know lots of things, but he needs to feign ignorance so people think that he is just a kid. The next chapter will be Fairy Tail, Natsu's Highlights. Thank you again, until next time!**


	5. Fairy Tail, Natsu's Highlights

_**Curse of Memory**_

 _ **Fairy Tail, Natsu's Highlights**_

 **This chapter will be more of an explanation for what happens until Lucy comes in. Everything will still be canon but you will see the reasons why.**

Fairy Tail Guildhall

When Natsu first entered the guild, it was full of rumbustious people that were just recently beaten up. As of now, he was still weary of humans, especially in his small form, and it would be best to play a shy character, so he hid behind Makarov. Upon seeing this the master grew even more irritated.

"Look at what you brats have done! You're scaring the new member!", the guild had a simultaneous thought, _it's you who is being scary._

He calmed down and pushed the boy behind him forward. "Come on child introduce yourself."

The boy had pink spikey hair, black eyes, a white scaly scarf, a red button up shirt with a white sash tied around his waist, yellow shorts and red shoes. He was shifting uncomfortably from being put on the spot and he was looking down trying not to make eye contact. Everyone saw him and immediately went ' _cute'._

"I'm… Natsu Dragneel, it's new to meet you."

All were ready to welcome him with open arms, when a little boy without a shirt on moved forward with a smug expression.

"You sure he belongs here master, he looks weak!", the boy shouted.

 _If only you knew._ Natsu was waiting to see what the master would do, only to have caught him doing the same thing. _He wants to see how I'll react, for now I will play coy and act dumb._

"Gramps, you told me this guild wasn't full of perverts.", Natsu lifted his hand was hiding inside his scarf but that was only to cover up the shit-eating grin plastered on his face. The other boy was stunned while Makarov spit out his drink. The older girls started to make dangerous glares and the master.

The shirtless boy collected himself only to sputter out, "What makes you say that?"

Natsu lowered the scarf, "Well your shirtless, meaning you're a pervert, right?"

The dark-haired boy looked down to see that he wasn't wearing a shirt, "Damn it! Where's my clothes?"

Someone handed him his lost shirt, which he put on, "Anyway, what's your magic, I bet it's something pathetic like you!"

Murmurs spread throughout the guildhall, yes, they were all curious but none would have used the boy's approach.

 _They can't know about my Curse or any other magics I know so I'll just stick to Igneel's magic. It's not like I can say no, because that'll raise suspicions too._

"I have fire-dragon slayer magic."

Noise began to fill the hall again, all questioning what a dragon slayer was. Which Makarov explained and that resulted in a whole new set of questions forming.

The next person to stand out was a girl with scarlet hair and armor, she also had an eyepatch. Her tone was prestigious as she spoke, "Who taught you this magic?"

Natsu was beginning to get irritated, all these people were asking questions and not telling him anything. He was a very patient person but this guild was definitely going to test his limits.

"Why should I tell you that?"

The whole guild froze and began whispering on how he was going for a death wish, but the girl still held her haughty posture, "Because I asked you, that's why."

Natsu put his hands behind his back and started shifting his weight between legs, "But why I should answer personal questions like that, if I don't even know your names."

Realization dawned upon the guild members as they became aware that they hadn't introduced themselves, and they were expecting this boy to just be open about his past.

The girl with the scarlet hair froze, before she formed her next sentence, "I suppose so, well, my name is Erza Scarlet, I use Requip magic. Let me introduce you to the guild.", she turned around and started pointing, "The one without a shirt on is Gray Fullbuster, he uses Ice-Make magic."

"Damn it! Why does this keep happening?!"

"The white-haired bitch is Mirajane. She uses Demon Take-Over magic."

"What did you call me tin-can?"

"The two other white-haired children are her siblings, Elfman and Lisanna. They use similar magic."

This continued until all the guild members present were named. Natsu made note to avoid a few, specifically Mirajane, she might be able to sense his demonic origin, and Warren, his telepathy could also be a problem. They all seemingly forgot about the boy until Gray decided that he still wanted answers.

"So, answer Erza, who taught you your magic."

Natsu internally smirked, he knew that anyway he told these people they would think he was crazy or lying, so he figured that he would have fun with it. All he really wanted was food and here he was explaining his 'life story', well at least he could test and see how his story would hold up. After this he was going to leave and hopefully never see these people again. Natsu had this entire conversation planned, he worked out the whole situation too.

"My father."

"Who was your father.", Erza patiently asked.

"Igneel."

"I ain't ever heard of no fire wizard Igneel.", Gray interjected.

"He wasn't a wizard.", the boy was barely keeping himself together, his laughter was threatening to come lose but he kept it contained. It was hysterical watching the guild think he was an idiot all while they tried to figure out who Igneel was.

Mirajane was starting to get annoyed, "Well then how did he teach you magic. If he wasn't a wizard then what was he."

 _Bingo,_ "A dragon."

The guild lost it, they started to shout at him just like he predicted. It was almost a little disappointing how easily he could anticipate humans, if only they could learn to open their minds just a little. Not interested in the banter Natsu walked over to Makarov, where the old man sat drinking in solitude.

"Can I get that meal you promised?", the boy asked with the cutest face he could muster, to which the master nodded his head, unsuspecting to what he just agreed to. Natsu preceded to order the entire menu plus seconds. All were disgusted, not expecting him to eat it all, not to mention the way he ate way like a rabid animal.

Horrified at the bill, Makarov gawked out, "How can one little boy eat all that food?!"

Natsu counted on his fingers, "Well I haven't eaten in… five days.", he dejectedly answered.

"Why haven't you eaten?", Gray, who just happened to be at the table near the bar, asked.

"Well my father just left me in the woods, and I didn't have anyway to get food.", the pink haired boy responded wistfully.

The stripper stopped questioning him after that point, as did the rest of the guild. As he finished he meal he planned his next course of action.

"So, gramps, how exactly are you gonna help me because, no offense, I really don't see how you are going to be able to, and if you can't then I'm just going to leave."

The nearby members froze, in the short time that they knew Natsu they already felt a strong connection to him and while they didn't want to admit it, they really liked him. He had a special light around him, the kind that pulled people in.

"Well my child, guilds can get you access into places that normal people can't get to."

 _I really don't need that._ Seeing the boy's unimpressed face, Makarov tried a different approach.

"Rumors get spread to guilds during missions."

 _That could be useful for finding the slayers if they do end up joining a guild._ Seeing him consider it the old man made one last attempt to try and get him to join.

"You can earn money on quests for food.", it was a venture out there but...

 _I really don't want to but the way these idiots are crowding around me, desperate for a yes. If I don't accept then it might seem suspicious, I guess that I could run my little experiment._

"Alright."

Everyone erupted in cheers and began to pour out drinks. But the peace didn't last long as the party soon turned into a guild wide brawl, Mirajane and Erza at the center of it. Natsu was so intrigued by it he almost missed the master calling him over.

Makarov pulled out a large stamp, "Alright where do you want your guild mark?"

Natsu thought hard about where he wanted in because his Tartaros mark was still over his heart, he hadn't thought to hide it since he didn't think that he would be joining a guild. Getting rid of it wasn't an option either, he could leave this guild anytime he wanted but the Tartaros mark was permanent. In the end he decided to go with somewhere that obvious and everyone would look at.

"On my right shoulder."

The old mage put the stamp down and when it came up a red insignia was now on the boy's arm.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Natsu."

Learning to Read

Eventually Natsu was cleared to go on missions, so he decided to go on one and earn some money. He really didn't bother to read the flyer since any quest he could easily handle, but unfortunately not all members thought that he was capable.

"What do you have there, squirt?"

Oh, no. he new that voice. It belonged to the one and only Mirajane, who was currently inches from his face with an ugly smirk.

"It's a request."

She backed away only to grab the flyer from his hands, "Do you even know what this says?"

"Of course, I do. It says to do something for sixty thousand jewels."

An evil glint showed in her eyes, "And what does it say specifically."

By now a crowd of people had formed around the two, Lisanna was trying to tell her sister to knock it off. _I don't care what people say about us etherious, Mira is a true demon._ See the truth was that Natsu does know how to read, but the humans updated their writing system to one that he hadn't learned yet so as of now the demon didn't know how to read.

"What does it matter Mira, it's not like you care about me anyway.", the dragon slayer coldly responded.

The white-haired girl's smirk seemed to falter for just a second before she regained it with more vigor, "So you can't read? What _did_ your _dragon_ teach you anyway?"

Natsu sighed internally, for he would have to fake another temper tantrum just for their amusement, "Igneel did teach me to read!", boyish squeals coming out of his mouth, which made him very irritated, "He really did! I know how to read.", he now added tears in hope that would drive them away but it didn't work for someone new entered the fray.

"I can teach you.", the scarlet mage offered. And before he knew it Natsu was being dragged away by Erza. While Natsu did learn to read the new human dialect, he also had to learn how to convey a fear for Erza like everyone else.

Reporting In

There were many long-distance missions available in the guild, which Natsu took, claiming that while he was on the mission that he heard a rumor about a dragon and decided to check it out. That was his excuse for when he took longer then expected which was almost every time. Everyone thought he was stupid enough to forget about checking in so they never questioned it. See he would deal with whatever issue the requestor had quickly, and then spend the rest of the time with his friends.

It was also his chance to become his normal self again, he really hated being a child, Tartaros provided a sense of normalcy and comfort that Fairy Tail didn't. It wasn't anything personal against them it's just that Natsu has known his guild members for a couple hundred years and has only just meet the human mages. But they have also helped to alter his opinion of humanity, and while he still holds some of his old prejudges, many have begun to reform.

Nevertheless, the demon missed his comrades and was excited to see them again, he had so many stories to tell them. But the trip wasn't all pleasure, this was also a report on his mission and the day he would have to check in on the king.

As he walked through the iron-wrought gates, he noticed that the castle was more than a little lopsided. Actually, the entire left half of the building was sinking into the ground.

Natsu sighed, "Damn it, Algieri." He then took off towards the stone spired palace.

The demon busted down the guild doors shouting, "Where's Algieri?!", his eyes glowing red and his magical pressure uncontained.

All were too stunned to react so they simply pointed toward the left wing of the guild. Natsu nodded before storming down the hall. The left wing was supposed to be where the containment cells were. But sometimes it was used as a training facility for the less experienced members or simply the members that were too powerful. Natsu reached the large mahogany doors of the training facility and did the same thing as he did to the doors of the castle hall.

The room was a dome shape with dispelling tiles lining the columns, the white walls were blinding, and the skylights didn't help. In the center of the room was Ezel, all four arms and six tentacles locked into combat with an eight-foot-tall brunette who was currently altering the layout of the dome with the spell she was casting. Upon seeing Natsu the largest etherious stood down and began to walk away, but the girl was too deep into her spell and change her target to their master.

The pink haired demon was pissed already but now he was livid, "Algieri!", as the spell came within a thirty-foot proximity all the magic evaporated and the stone melted, but the girl was too far gone to stop now so she continued to pour more magic into her spell. Now the master was just feet from her, when he stopped and started releasing his own magical pressure. The aura around him was commanding of respect and the temperature was unbearable, and the girl couldn't withstand it, leaving her on the ground gasping for breath.

Once in control of her breath, and realizing the situation she was in, the girl quickly bowed before her master, "Algieri, I have hold to hundreds of times, you are not permitted or allowed to use that magic! While you may be an earth dwarf you still don't have enough experience to do a full earth connection! Am I understood?"

Algieri nodded before running away, not wanting to anger her master anymore.

Natsu took a deep inhale then released his breath, "Ezel, go get the rest of The Gates and meet me in the meeting hall."

The blue demon nodded and too scurried off. Natsu then headed towards the center of the castle, the meeting hall, this place was where only him and The Gates could go, it had silence runes and no windows. Made to prevent anyone from entering without permission. The room may seem tiny from the outside but really it was a gigantic library with a large rectangular table in the center, there were three stories to the place, all full of books of forbidden knowledge. And most importantly the Books of Zeref, it was here that many of the unrulier demon were stored for the protection of the world, but also where the physical books that could kill the demons were guarded. It was another personal favorite place of Natsu, the floating golden lights, that came from the tree roots that grew from the walls, always made the room serene.

The master sat at the head of the table and began to set up a communication lacrima. He poured magic into the lacrima and watched it connect with the king's. Toma smiled at him and asked for an update, to which Natsu did. He and Anna had located two of the four dragon slayers, Ryos and Gajeel, but they have no memories of them and they have already joined guilds. Also, Tartaros has defended Fiore against major threats as promised, and that he has joined a human guild to get more information regarding the slayers. Satisfied with the update Toma nodded and said his fair wells before shutting down the connection.

Natsu sat in silence for a few moments, contemplating what his next move would be. The Gates entered the meeting hall and began to sit down in their respective seats, Mard Geer at the end of the table, facing Natsu. The leader then explained everything that he had told the king. Then his tone changed to jovial as he joked about when he first got to Fairy Tail. Watching the horror of his friend's faces when he told them of meeting Gray would forever be hilarious, especially when Seilah declared that she would _have a disciplinary talk with that incompetent fool_.

"So, how have things been here?"

This went on for a couple of hours, and in that short time it felt like everything was the same as before. Yet their friend would have to leave, and they would be left alone once again.

Natsu made sure to visit at least twice a month, and to call on the lacrima once a week. But that didn't make it any easier, even so, the mission came first.

Ice-Cold Heart

While it has been almost a year, Natsu still doesn't have any friends, besides Lisanna. And that's more of a pity relationship then anything. The guild seemed like such a welcoming place on the outside, but trying to integrate into the human society was harder than originally thought. Sure, he could talk to the older kids and didn't have a problem with joining in on brawls, but Natsu still felt like an outsider to the tight-knit group of kids. So, he came up with a plan on how to make at least one more friend. But, for now he was going to have to really upset the peaceful atmosphere. At least this would be good information for his experiment.

Natsu sat at the designated table for the kids and teens, listening in on the conversation, waiting for the perfect time to strike. While it wasn't for a much later, it was Mira that had lit the match.

"I went on this job with a huge green beast, it had ten eyes and was covered in swamp gook. And while it wasn't a challenge for me that thing was strong enough to level a village!"

The pink-haired boy mindlessly added, "Do you think all monsters are bad?", while his tone was light, the entire table tensed.

The one that responded to him was Gray, "What are you talking about, of course they are!"

Some members were nodding but others stayed still, _good that means I can really get some shots fired._

"Well not all of them can be bad right? I mean we don't see a lot of monster quests, so that means there are probably good monsters too.", Natsu guessed, which wasn't really, but he needed to put up and appearance.

Now less and less people were nodding and starting to think about what his just said, but Gray only got more irritated, "I don't care, their monsters! All of them, there is no such thing as a _good_ monster."

"How do you know?", the pink haired boy exhorted.

The ice mage froze, ironically, and stuttered, "I…I… "

The boy then ran out of the guild hall, leaving a very confused group of kids and one very proud Natsu.

"I should probably check on him,", the dragon slayer made a sad face, "It was just a stupid thought, you guys should just forget about it."

He then ran after the boy, the rest of the table sat in silence as they were unable to forget about what just happened.

Following the sent left behind, Natsu found Gray on the side of a river, crying. The dragon slayer found himself at a loss, he was never great at dealing with crying people so he just sat himself next to the ice mage, rubbing circles on his back. After a while the crying boy calmed down and realized who was comforting him.

"What are you doing here flame-brain? Came to make fun of me."

"Do you think we could ever be friends?", Natsu asked honestly.

At a loss for words Gray simply said, "What?"

"Friends, do you ever think we could be? Not to make this about me but I've really been lonely since coming here and I really want to make some friends."

The boy thought about it, he and the other kids really had been excluding the new boy from pretty much everything. And they were constantly picking on him, making him feel inadequate. But now that he was really thinking about his actions and new question came to mind.

"Why?"

It was now Natsu's turn to be confused, "Why?"

"Why would you want to be friends with me?", he asked dejectedly, "After all the things I have done to you?"

The pink haired boy smiled and stood up, "We don't have to be friends,", he extended an arm to the other boy, "we could be rivals. Always trying to outshine each other."

Gray looked up at the boy, his smile almost as bright as the sunset behind him. He reached up to grab the boy's arm.

"You're on."

Happy

Tall oaks surround the city of Magnolia, while some might have thought that the commanding presence of the trees was terrifying but to Natsu they were the most peaceful part of the city. Currently he was trying to find some quiet away from the guild, and he couldn't go on a quest then see his friends as there were no long-distance ones available, or any that would take an extended amount of time. So, here he was, so deep in the woods that light barely shone through the leaves. The demon was resting against a tree, meditating, and just as everything was fading away. _Thump!_ A giant egg crashed down onto his head.

"Motherfu—what the hell is that?", as he was rubbing his head Natsu took a closer look at what hit him. A large white egg with navy swirls sat before him. While quite unusual Natsu had an idea of what it was. _I thought that Exceeds only existed in Edolas, oh well, let's have some fun with this._

Trading his plans of peace for those of chaos, the boy raced towards the guild, egg in tow. When he burst down the doors, Natsu made the biggest production he could possibly make, claiming he had a dragon egg. He then proceeded to act like an idiot and take the worst possible care of an egg, but before he could have any real fun the boy was stopped by a certain white-haired girl. Lisanna then dragged him out of the guild and brought him somewhere private where they built a hut to house the egg.

Inside they now sat, trying to keep the egg warm without setting it on fire. The silence was awkward until the girl decided to start a conversation.

"You know, we are kind of like a family, building a house and taking care of the would-be child. Maybe one day in the future we could be married and have children of our own!"

Natsu blushed and hid inside his scarf, _what the hell is wrong with this girl? That is super embarrassing, does she really think that?_ He looked over to see her staring into his eyes intensely, _great and now she wants an answer!_

"Ye-yeah, I'd like that.", he meekly answered.

While it may seem like he liked the girl, the boy was more answering for his guild, and the hopes that one day the humans would be able to coincide. Although Etherious couldn't have children of their own, Natsu knew that many of them love to take care of the younger ones that come to seek asylum.

Deep in thought Natsu almost missed the egg starting to crack. Both looked at each other, picked it up, and then raced to the guild. The crashing of doors got everyone's attention, abruptly stopping to see Natsu and Lisanna holding the giant egg that was beginning to crack. The two then put it on a table where all decided to crowd around, waiting to see what would come out of the mysterious thing. It continued to crack for a while until it just stopped, then Natsu and Gray started to fight when the latter pushed the boy and he crashed into the table knocking over the egg.

All thought that whatever creature inside would be dead when suddenly it split in half revealing, "A cat!?"

Yes, a tiny blue kitten was what popped out of the egg. With a sleepy expression on its face the cat sprouted wings and then did a lazy circle around the guild before landing on top of Natsu's head, and falling asleep.

Seeing this as an opportunity to party, the guild began to drink. A new member of the family was born and indeed it was a joyous occasion. The smell of beer and the sound of cheers resonated throughout the hall.

"So, what will you name him?"

Natsu shook himself out of the enchantment and turned to face Lisanna who was tilting her head in curiosity jut inches from her face.

"Seeing as how he make everyone, I'll name him Happy."

Death of a Comrade

If the years in Fairy Tail have taught him anything its that the peace never lasts long, there were only momentary pitstops of calm before the train of trouble continues. Speaking of which, the train is about to leave the station.

"Natsu!"

Said person lifted his head from the grass and turned to see his friend Lisanna standing over him.

Sighing he lifted his body onto his elbows, "What's up Lis?"

While her smile was bright, the pit in the teen's stomach grew, "Mira-nee is letting me and Elf-nii go on an S-Class mission!"

No comfort had come yet, "So when do you leave?"

"Right now, loser.", a voice from behind answered.

Mira and Elfman were waiting on the other side of the tree, calling Lisanna over.

"Wait,", something wasn't right and Natsu didn't have enough details to figure it out, "what is the request for? Maybe I can help out?"

It was a shot in the dark but, "It's to hunt down the Beast,", just as he feared, he knew of the Beast very well and at their current power level none stood a chance, "and no you can't come, no weaklings are allowed."

Elfman seemed uneasy and tried to convince that maybe some extra help wouldn't be bad, but his sister shot the idea down immediately and began to call Lisanna claiming they would be late for the train. They quickly said their goodbyes and then took off. Leaving Natsu under the park tree tucked away from the light of the midday sun.

The boy went to his house in search of his cat, who was asleep in his hammock. Gently, he woke the cat up, and whispered in his ear.

"Happy, I'm going to go somewhere today. So, our plans to go fishing together will have to be delayed, okay? But you should still go without me, catch some in my place buddy."

The blue creature nodded before going back to sleep. Satisfied Natsu snapped his fingers and returned to his normal state then disappeared in a burst of flames.

Night sky hung above the land. For anyone else this would have been peaceful, the gentle breeze that only nipped a little, the dazzling stars, and the lull of the animals. But for a family of three, tonight would be a travesty.

A booming roar reverberated throughout the forest as three mages ran for their lives. The idea was simple, go into the cave of the monster they had been tracking, and then do a surprise assault while it was sleeping. Unfortunately, none had told them it was nocturnal. It could be imagined how things resulted after that, which leads to where they are now, heavily injured and magic depleted, praying they will make it out in one piece. They were so close to the town, not that it would have done much good, until Mira tripped. Pleading for her family to go on without her, that she'd distract it long enough for them to escape. But they wouldn't let her, the younger siblings picked their older sibling up and continued to drag her down the path. Fate still wasn't on their side for the path soon ended with the bottom of a huge bolder. Now the shaking of the ground grew as the Beast drew closer.

Towering over the trees on its hind legs. The lower parts were bird-like in their yellow color they also had large talons easily the size of a train car. The upper half of the monster was covered in bloody red scales, except the chest which had green armor plating, there were large golden horns on its shoulders and head. Even hunched the Beast presented a terrifying aura.

Mira desperately tried to transform once more but all her reserves were completely depleted. But her siblings weren't, Elfman stood in front of his sister and began to absorb the Beast inside of him. Despite the pleas of his sister telling him that the creature was too strong, he continued for if he couldn't protect his family then what kind of a man was he. Yet as she predicted the Beast was too strong and began to fight, and win, over control. Soon it began to attack again, this time using his body as the weapon.

His sisters tried to get him to wake but to no avail. One was quickly losing hope, the other still believed.

Lisanna stepped forward, arms out chanting, "It's ok big brother, we still love you. Please, just wake up."

The Beast froze for a second, just enough so that hope could flutter in their hearts, but then he brought he fist down and swiped her away like a fly. Mira chased after her sister while Elfman finally got control of his body once again so that he could see his sister's last moments.

There she laid, crimpled from the attack. Bones were crushed, scratches and bruises littered her body, yet she never looked so peaceful. Mira's tears were falling freely and she tried to tell her the it was going to be ok. Their sister was barely holding in her cries of pain.

"Elfman I'm so happy your ok.", Lisanna smiled weakly upon seeing her brother, "That's good."

The girl's guild mark on her shoulder began to disappear. Golden specks of light floated into the sky, causing Mira to go into hysteria.

"No! Lisanna don't go!", she cried out trying to grasp the specks in vain.

Lisanna smiled a sad smile and closed her eyes, body floating away into the night sky.

That night would forever be marked with grief, similar to the night that he died. At least that was what Natsu thought as he watched the events unfold from his vantage point on the bolder where the confrontation earlier occurred. His face was like the stone which he rested upon. He stood up and turned around.

"I told them they would need help."

The Fight of a Century

A few months prior to the death of Lisanna, a something strange happened to Natsu. The day's sun shone brightly with minimal clouds in the sky. Another of the seldom peaceful moments that occurred in Fairy Tail. None of the rowdier members were their currently, all on missions, and Natsu was using the time very wisely by taking a nap in the guild hall. Although it really wasn't a nap since even with fewer people, the guild never ceased to make noise, so the dragon slayer was actually meditating while manipulating the ethernano inside him. This was a form of training he did to seal his magic and curse powers all while simultaneously increasing his power.

Right in the middle of his session an alarm went off in the town. The speaker system began announcing to the civilians to go to their designated safety zones. Natsu, who was used to the excitement of Fairy Tail, didn't even lift his head, instead choosing to bury it deeper into his arms. But when the town started to moved and divide to make a path straight to the guild, he groaned and stood up, then walked over to the bar where the master was.

"Why's the town moving, gramps?", the teen asked with aggression in his voice, "Is someone attacking us?"

Makarov chuckled then answered, "No, a guildmember is returning after a mission and unfortunately he is so powerful, and clumsy, that he could destroy Magnolia. So, we built a path to the guild to minimize the destruction."

Natsu nodded before taking a seat, watching the door closely. He had felt a large magical pressure earlier, though he assumed that it was just the master using his magic for something petty. Now the demon was curious, someone of this level could be useful in the future fight.

To others a dark figure could be seen at the edge of town, but Natsu could see him clearly. It was a tall man with orange hair and goatee, he wore a brown torn cape with nothing underneath, an unusual belt with baggy black pant and boots. Now that he was closer the demon could tell that this man had even stronger magical pressure then he first suspected. When he walked into the guild, silence, then whispers erupted. Tales of his adventures spread like wildfire.

He wore a serious expression as he walked through the threshold, a silent nod went to Makarov before when continued down the steps. It would have been an awesome entrance if he didn't trip on the last step, falling face first into the wooden planks, and his magic went haywire, creating a large fault in the middle of the hall.

 _Crash Magic, interesting._ Natsu watched as the man went over to the old man to talk. Deciding, after a few minutes of them talking, the teen went over to where they conversing.

"Is this the mage you were talking about gramps?"

The man looked down to see a teen with spikey pink hair and a scowl on his face. The mage felt foolish for not noticing him earlier.

The master nodded, "This is Gildarts Clive. The strongest member of Fairy Tail."

The man, now known as Gildarts, extended his arm, "Nice to meet you..."

"Natsu."

Gildarts nodded, "Nice to meet you Natsu, are you a new member?"

The pink haired boy turned his head to the side, "Relatively.", he shook the hand of the crash mage and sent him a mental message, ' _Meet me outside of town.'_

Natsu made sure to send him a portion of his power so that Gildarts would take him seriously. After he let go the teen made up and excuse for why he was leaving and exited the guild.

Gildarts was absolutely disturbed, for in that moment he had no clue how to respond to the situation surrounding him. Deciding it would be weird to chase after the boy, he continued his talk with the master.

"Does he seem unusual to anyone else?", the mage asked.

"Hmm, what are you talking about Gildarts?"

The man deemed that it would be best to forget about it, for the next couple of hours he talked and drank with the few various members that were at the hall. When night fell and the mages started to go home, Gildarts remembered about his meeting and made up and excuse about him being tired and wanting to go home. He didn't know how but like a muscle memory Gildarts knew exactly where to go.

In the end the mage ended up at a field clearing miles away from Magnolia. Natsu rested against a tree eating an apple without a care in the world. At least that's what it looked like, but upon closer inspection an expression of misery could be seen. His eyes looked so lost that Gildarts could have sworn that he had been through a life time of pain.

Apparently, the man made too much noise for the boy put on a mask of emotion and looked directly at him.

"Took you long enough, I was getting bored waiting.", his voice was apathetic.

Natsu tossed the apple to the side before dissolving into flames and then reforming in front of him, now with the body of an eighteen-year-old and a scowl of an old fisherman.

"Wha- "

Natsu put his hand up, silencing the man before him, "Please save your questions until after.", seeing the mage nod he continued, "It has come to my understanding that you are one the most powerful mages of this era, and that you are interested in taking on a quest to take down the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse."

Gildarts was blabbering like a fool. Incapable of forming sentences, the pink haired teen took it as a sign to continue.

"You may think you are powerful enough to take him down, I assure you, you are not. In fact, the most you may be able to do is cancel out his magic until he gets aboard and decides to physically attack."

The crash mage got his bearing together after the last comment, he was a prideful man and his magic was the focus of his hubris, "Who are you?", while it may have seemed like a question it was more of a dare. As in, who do you think you are to challenge me?

A smirk appeared upon his face, "My name has been lost in history, and also not relevant. It might just be best to call me Natsu."

Gildarts wasn't buying it, Natsu sighed, "E.N.D. That is my name, master of Tartaros and leader of the Nine Demon Gates."

E.N.D was right, the man didn't recognize the name, yet something about him made the mage want to run away.

"Right,", his voice was full of skepticism, "well if you are a master of a guild then why are you here?", aggression and magic was beginning to fill the air, "Are you here to start a war with Fairy Tail?"

The teen laughed, "No, not at all. I hate war personally, peaceful talks are my preference, I just using them for information. And experimentation."

This did not ease the tension in the air, "And what is your experiment.", he seethed.

"Well I don't see the harm in telling you, it is an experiment I have every couple of decades. Although I haven't done it in a while. I see if humanity has let go of their hatred and will welcome the diversity that they have hated in the past."

Gildarts's anger had dissipated a little, he knew that people always feared what they couldn't understand. If it is new then it must be dangerous. Even he was not immune to this behavior, and it made him ashamed.

Seeing the mage calm down and ponder what he had said, Natsu decided it was time to continue, "Back to the topic at hand, while your magic is powerful, you are not enough to fight the dragon."

"And what?", arrogance in his voice, "You are."

"Yes,", the teen disappeared into flames and reformed on a branch of the tree he earlier rested on, "Actually, I have too much power."

"Huh?"

Natsu looked up to the sky, night was now high. The moon was waning on the last sliver of light, yet the stars dazzled the heavens. The field's grass swayed in the wind, along with the tapping of the branches, creating a symphony of nature. A peaceful harmony that was the exact opposite of the inner turmoil of Natsu's mind. _Why must I be the bearer of this responsibility._

"I cannot fight the Black Dragon because I have too much power, and you cannot because you do not. Quite the predicament we have here."

Gildarts was pissed again, how dare this stranger insult him and his family, "So you keep saying, and yet,", he released a wave on magic, obliterating the tree the teen stood on, "I don't believe you."

 _You humans only understand violence._

The moment the tree exploded Natsu had hopped off and landed before the mage, "Let us have a wager then, we will fight, if I win using only the estimated half of Acnologia, then you will have to do as I say. And if you win then I will do anything you want.", he stepped forward and extended his hand, "Do we have a deal?"

Gildarts smirked, he was never one to turn down a challenge and this provided him with an opportunity. His confidence overpowered his fear as he extended his hand out to complete the deal.

The two leapt to opposite ends of the field, each letting their magic flow free. Both waited for the other to make a move, for patience is the strongest virtue on a battlefield.

Gildarts was the one break, launching _Crush_ at his opponent, watching as the magic travel then reach him. A dust cloud came up once the attack hit, after it was gone it left Natsu standing there with his index finger up. He only used it to dispel the magic, and other then that nothing on him was affected.

The crash mage continued to attack, sometimes Natsu would counter, he was trying to get as close as possible for his plan to work.

Now he was couple of feet away, he smirked, it was common knowledge that the ace of Fairy Tail was an expert of hand to hand combat. Gildarts knew that if he were to get close enough to do close-quarters combat then the duel would be his, for the rest of his plan only worked if he was in direct contact.

Seeing this Natsu deactivated his magic and intercepted the elbow jab coming towards his chest. He dropped his left foot back, his body following in motion, the arm continued to follow through, so he grabbed the end and then palmed under the attacker's arm pit. Successfully dislocating the shoulder.

Gildarts gasped at first then when the inflictor stepped away, he clutched his arm, panting in ragged breaths. He was definitely going to need to see Porlyusica, but at least he was close enough now.

The mage unclenched his teeth long enough for him to cast, "Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Absolute Heaven!", with his good arm he tabbed Natsu square in the chest.

Upon being hit with the spell, the pink-haired teen exploded with crash magic. The force of the spell was so powerful the both mages were sent flying to opposite ends of the field, although it was more of a plain now, even the detonation could be seen from town.

Gildarts was laying on the ground coughing, he could now add a broken rib or two to the list of injuries along with a few other things. He was a bit disoriented, _Absolute Heaven_ has never done anything like that before. The recoil of the spell was more powerful then anything he ever felt.

He slowly got up and saw Natsu huffing holding his chest where the attack hit. The clothes he wore were tattered in many places but still intact, burn marks and scratches could be observed underneath. But he could clearly see that they were healing as if they never happened.

The corner of Natsu's mouth twitched, "That was a nice attack, depending on how powerful your opponent is, the stronger the explosion. Good thing I absorbed most of the attack though otherwise you'd be in trouble. But still, I grow bored and unlike the Black Dragon I won't toy with you anymore.", Gildarts was shaking, he had not ever felt something this powerful before and the glowing red eyes didn't help, "See I learned this trick from a good friend of mine. When I dislocated your shoulder I but a mark underneath your arm. In a matter of moments, it will explode, killing you instantaneously."

Gingerly lifting his arm, he saw a hand shaped mark that was glowing orange. Emanating the power of his opponent.

If it was possible, he grew even more terrified, "But I won't, for while humans aren't my favorite, I don't kill unless necessary. The legends depict me a merciless and yet here I am, letting you live. Although with the fear you now have, I suppose you will forever be scared of my abilities.", the teen walked over to the man, "Let this be a lesson, if you want to fight the dragon then you must get much stronger then you are now."

The crash mage was filled with dread, his opponent earlier said that he wasn't even using his full strength and yet… not to mention the fact that if this was a real fight, he would be dead at worst. However, something still bothered him.

"What are you?"

A feline grin appeared on his face as he faced the man, "A Demon, from the Books of Zeref."

Gildarts stumbled back, fumbling over his next words, "What are you going to do to me, now that I know your secrets?"

Natsu turned around and began walking towards the tree line, "You'll find out eventually."

A cold breeze drifted once again making the man shiver along those last words as the boy disappeared. Gildarts stood there, in the center of the battlefield, thinking over what he said. He was deep in thought when a cawing sound shook him out of his thoughts. Looking up he saw that seven crows had rested upon the tree that Natsu earlier stood against.

 **Sorry about the delay, lots of stuff happened and I'm also a quality writer. First off none of the OC mentioned will have of any value, they will just be there to mention and develop the story more. Also, I decided to add mythical creatures to Earth land because, why not. Next, Gray's father will not be revived and become a Gate, Mard Geer will take his position since Natsu will be in charge. Also, I'm a lazy writer and won't write every story arc, just the ones that will have some affect on the story. Finally, there will be no Tartaros or Alverez arcs per say. The next chapter will be called The Beginnings of Things, until next time, peace out!**


	6. The Beginnings of Things

_**The Curse of Memory**_

 _ **The Beginnings of Things**_

Hargeon, July 2nd, x784

Natsu never had problems with transportation before he came to Fairy Tail. His guess is that since he hasn't used his Curse, to its fullest potential in a while, that the natural dragon slayer motion sickness was fighting off the ethernano cells. All the more reason he needed to leave that place. The only reason he was in the port town was because someone had told him a salamander would be here, and he needed that excuse to go back to friends.

As the train rounded the side of the mountain, he could see the small town he knew all those years ago was now a huge city. Natsu almost thought about visiting to his friend Mel, but then he remembered the poor bartender had perished many years ago. _I wonder if his bar is still there after his death._ He hoped so, during his traveling years Natsu had come back to this town for various reasons, but every time he came back to that bar.

The train whistle resonated throughout the train and he quickly got off. The smell of salt floated gently in the air. Although he knew that a salamander couldn't possibly be in a town, he still decided to check out the rumor since it was probably some guy using his moniker.

Humans had much evolved in architecture over the years. Natsu remember when they could barely make their wooden houses stand, now they had large stone cathedrals dedicated to their gods. Towns had much improved too, before they were cesspools of germs and contamination. Hargeon was very clean as he walked down the cobblestone streets, the only thing that littered the streets was the occasional piece of trash, a vast improvement.

As he walked through the residential district, trying to find his friend's bar _The Boar's Hat,_ a large crowd of people had gathered in the streets all shouting about Salamander. Happy looked at him with a hopeful expression that he had to copy. The two barreled through the group, and just like he suspected it was a man using his moniker, and charm magic, to gain favor with the ladies. Though as soon as he showed up the charm was broke, yet once he insulted the mage it was reactivated, and he was beat-up by the females.

Once the fake Salamander decided to leave and the crowd dispersed, a blonde girl had appeared and offered to take them to lunch for helping her brake the charm. Natsu looked up at her and was taken aback.

"Anna?", he asked. The blonde looked just like the celestial mage from his childhood that was watching over the slayers now.

The girl seemed confused though, "No, my name is Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia."

That explained it, she was Anna's descendant. Judging by the keys on her waist she had the same magic too, out of respect for his teacher he decided take this girl up on her offer and learn more about her.

"About that lunch, do you know if The Boar's Hat is still around?"

"Boar's Hat?", Lucy reiterated, "I've been here a couple of days and I can't say I've ever heard of it."

"Oh, I see. Must have the wrong town.", while he said it with a foolish tone Natsu was actually quite depressed about it. _Of course, it still wouldn't be here, stop trying to hold onto past connections._

"Well let's just go to the nearest place then."

Turns out, the nearest place was actually a square diner exactly where Mel's place used to be. The moment was bitter-sweet to Natsu.

Unfortunately for Lucy, she had offered to pay for their meal, the two ate like kings while everyone in the restaurant stared in disgust. As the cat and teen ate the girl did some explaining like it wasn't completely obvious what happened. Then she continued to condescend her prowess as she said she was a celestial spirit wizard, just like he had guessed, and that she really wanted to join the guild Fairy Tail. _Well, this could be interesting._

"But you don't know anything about that anyway.", she waved her hand in the air as if brushing away bad thoughts, "Soo, thanks for saving me. I'll you guys finish up and I'll pay."

Natsu and Happy looked at each other then leapt onto the floor to start bowing, "Thank-you!"

The female mage then left the restaurant in a hurry, prompting the two to go back to their seats.

"She's kind a stupid don't you think?", Happy cheekily asked, "Didn't even know there were two Fairy Tail guild members right in front of her."

The cat giggled and continued to talk, the dragon slayer would occasionally nod but his mind had drifted to the past.

Hargeon x400 (roughly)

Recently Natsu decided that he wanted to take a break from finding the other etherious and elected to leave Mard Geer and Torafuzar, who were tracking down a lead in Bosco, he wanted to get more of the human experience. While it had been a few years, he decided that he wanted to visit Hargeon once again. And specifically, a bar, with a certain special someone he wanted to see.

As the demon walked down the mountain, he saw the tall spire of The Boar's Hat, now he began to race towards the building. Once he reached the doors of the tavern he halted, did he really want to go in here, it would be strange to see a man who hasn't aged a day since they last saw him.

Yet something in Natsu urged him to open those doors, which he did. The smell of beer and sweat was the same, as well as the stone and wood interior. This time though, there weren't as many people in the bar, only a few of the day drinkers, but the barkeep was still there.

Mel wore the same outfit he did a few years ago, however his hair was now short. It wasn't clean shaven but not quite his shoulder level, his hair looked much more suited to him. Meanwhile Natsu's hair was tied in a low pony tail, much shorter than what it used to be.

The moment the demon walked into the tavern the blonde lit up and called him over. Most of the town had forgotten about the two strangers that had saved them, but he didn't. How could one forget that smile?

"Natsu! It's been so long, and you've barely aged a day!", Mel exclaimed.

The pink-haired man brushed it off, "Three years isn't that long, and I could say the same to you.", that was true, and disturbing to him, the only real difference with the barkeep was his hair, "And I told you I wouldn't forget this place!"

A beaming grin grew on the face of the blonde, "Well, why don't you sit and chat. Old friends can catch up, right?", he tilted his head to the side, "Actually, where is that dark-haired friend of yours, Mard Geer, was it?"

Natsu sat down before him, "We split up for a little, he went with a friend to Bosco on a job. I don't really like the place, so I decided not to go."

Mel seemed satisfied. The rest of the day was spent sharing tales of their latest exploits. Jovial laughter filled the place as the two talked. It would have lasted longer but a large trading ship had docked, and the crew decided that they wanted to celebrate. Unfortunately for the barkeep his server had chose this night to skip, leaving Mel the only person to take care of over thirty sailors.

Seeing that the number of people entering was greater than those who were leaving, Natsu offered his services.

"Looks like you're busy.", he ventured, which earned him a glare, "How about I help fill that server role?"

Mel shoot him a grateful look and the mage went behind the bar to get an apron. After that his night was dealing with drunk men get even drunker. It wasn't until three a.m. that the last of the stragglers finally left or past out.

Now the waitstaff was cleaning up the mess of spilt beer and tipped over furniture.

"Damn, I am so paying my next waiter with a much bigger tip."

The blonde laughed, "Yeah, waiting really gives you an appreciation for those in the hospitality business,", he looked over to Natsu who was sprawled over a table, "but you did great, almost as if you've been doing it as long as I have."

The man sprawled gave a nervous chuckle, "Yeah, right."

Mel smiled and put away his cleaning supplies, "Come on, take off the apron and I'll show you the good thing about staying up this late."

The two left the bar and started to explore the town. Mel showed him all of the good shopping places that he didn't get to see last time, he also showed him the historical sights of the town. While they weren't that old, the two began to play a racing game throughout the vintage houses. This went on for about two hours but then Mel checked his watched, which read five. He silently cursed.

Natsu was then dragged by his friend up the mountain, and despite the protests his friend wouldn't tell him why they were going up. Now they sat on a cliff overlooking the sea, the sky was beginning to turn light blue.

"Now will you tell me why we are up here?", the demon groaned.

The corners of Mel's mouth twitched, "The sunrises here are the most beautiful. I've done lots of traveling in my days but, here, here are where the most beautiful sunrises are."

Natsu sat next to the barkeep, the sun was now peaking over the horizon. A wonderful array of colors too beautiful to describe began to form. Mel was right, this was the most beautiful sunrise he had ever seen. When he went to turn his head to tell him he was right, Natsu saw that the blonde had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Smiling, the demon then returned his attention to the horizon.

Noon was when Mel finally woke up, Natsu doesn't need sleep but sometimes he likes to, he uses it as a get away from the world. Mel's hair had fallen in front of his face and his eyes weren't completely focused quite yet, his grogginess was evident as he tried to catch up with his memories. Everything seemed to fall into place for he jumped off of the person he was sleeping on and flipped his hair back.

"So, it wasn't a dream.", he brushed himself off, "Well, I am sorry to have… fallen asleep on you."

Natsu tilted his head, _Did I do something wrong? I don't think so, then why is he acting weird?_

Seeing the blonde wanted an answer he obliged, "It's no trouble, and you were right. That wa the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen. Too bad we didn't get to see it together."

Mel turned bright red and Natsu was left confused once again. Eventually, after getting his bearings together, the tavern owner determined that they needed to get back, so he could get ready for tonight. Down the mountain once again.

Upon reaching the establishment Mel noticed a note left on his door. Ripping it off he then read what it had to say.

"Damn it.", he cursed softly.

Despite it being whispered Natsu heard his friend and asked, "What is it?"

The blonde jumped and turned to face him, "Oh, my waitress decided to quit on me. This is her 'formal' resignation.", he sighed, "Great now I'm going to have to get a new staff member by tonight or I'm going to be short-handed."

Natsu thought about it, _Mard and Tora won't be back for a couple of weeks, a few months at worst,_ "I could help you, my friend won't be back for a while and I already know what to do."

Mel was stunned, but then he thought about it, and smiled, "Okay, then let us talk about wages."

"You don't have to pay me much, just room and board would be nice.", the dragon-slayer said.

"Then it's a deal."

They went inside and put on their aprons. After finishing sweeping and prepping the food, the two then went to pick up more supplies for the next week. Almost everyday was like this, talk in the morning, prep for the night, get supplies, deal with the customers, and go up to the mountain to watch the sunrise. For weeks they've done this, coming closer then ever thought possible. Although, Natsu still hasn't seen the sunset on the mountain since he has to work by then, he really wanted to watch it with Mel.

Today the pink-haired mage was walking throughout the town when he saw some of the other shop owners setting up stands in the streets. Curious, he asked what they were doing, to which they responded with, setting up for the festival.

Feeling still unformed he went back to his friend and the tavern. When he opened the green wooden door and saw Mel resting a crate of milk on the table. Upon seeing each other the two beamed special smiles that was only shared between them.

"Hey, I saw the shops setting up stands for a festival. Do you know what they are talking about?", Natsu asked.

The blonde seemed surprised, his jaw had dropped a little, "Well its Harbor Fest.", seeing his friend not getting it he tried again, "The festival of Hargeon?", he still wasn't understanding, "It's a celebration of when Hargeon was founded so we pretty much get the day off to party."

"Ohhh. Sounds fun, so if we don't have to work then what will we do?"

Mel brightened up, "I was thinking that we could visit around the town and the watch the fireworks."

Natsu thought about it and said, "Okay, I like being around you."

The barkeep blushed and turned away, showing that his hair had grown out and was tied once again in a low pony-tail with the red ribbon. The demon liked the way his hair only curled a little, in loose gentle waves. He once told him that and Mel did the same thing he did before.

During this time, Natsu had gotten better at understanding people, more specifically, relationships, and how to deal with them. He believes that he might be making his friend embarrassed, but he isn't sure how. All he really does is compliment Mel on the things he likes about him, like the ditzy thoughts he has only to reveal he actually is a genius, or the way his easy-going nature made everyone feel at peace. Natsu didn't know what this meant, for even though he was once human, he was still young when he died and never really got to understand what being human truly meant. Maybe that was why he was spending so much time with the bartender, or maybe there was another reason he quite wasn't sure of.

Unbeknownst to Natsu, Mel had been watching him for a couple of minutes now. Cleaning glasses as the pink-haired man was deep in thought, what he was thinking about, he had no clue but there was a certain pout he would put on his face. It was adorable, but you could never tell the dragon-slayer that or else he would go into a fit of why he wasn't cute, only making him more so.

Now the last glasses were clean and the rest of the chores for today were done. Mel proceeded to drag Natsu out of the bar, it was almost four now, so they still had time to eat at the different venders, do some shopping if they wanted, and maybe play some games if so desired. But by seven they had to go up the mountain, there was something special that the barkeep had planned for them.

The streets were covered in petals and the buildings had flower wreaths decorating them. People were wearing an arrangement of colors and loose clothes. The normally gray and pretentious atmosphere was forgotten as couples danced in the streets while musicians made their art loud for all to hear. The festival was in full swing, nothing could stop it now.

When Mel wasn't looking Natsu had wondered off, over to a food stand. As the blonde turned around the pinkette had returned with some meat on a stick and offered one to him. Which he gladly accepted, they spent a few hours shopping, not for much, playing games, which neither could win, and dancing in the street. They were having so much fun that Mel almost forgot to check the time. Six-fifty, _oh no, if we don't leave now then we'll miss it._

"Come on Natsu. We have to get going.", the barkeep urged.

The dragon-slayer looked like he was going to say something, but he just shrugged and followed. Hiking up the mountain took about an hour plus, since there was no path and it was pretty much a vertical incline. But once they were up, it was all worth it.

The dying sun was just beyond the horizon of the town, but still in the air for those of a higher elevation. While the hazy gold of the sun was brilliant, the royal purple mixed with blue, pink, green, and orange luminated the town with a gentle glow that no words could describe.

Now the star had fallen behind the horizon, but the dull glow was still there, just like Mel's ebony eyes. Neither had realized they moved closer to each other until their shoulders touched. At first, they looked at each other but didn't move, they still didn't after they looked away. Now all light had disappeared, and the colored torches were being lit around the town. From the mountain Natsu could see the lights were moving in circles and he could hear music being played.

"What's going on down there?", he pointed down towards Hargeon.

Mel followed his finger then smiled, "That's the Dance of Lights. I wanted to show that to you, but then we wouldn't have gotten to have seen the sunset like I've known you've wanted to."

There was silence after that, the lack of noise was still there when the sky turned dark. That is, until large lights exploded into the air, making a noise so loud Natsu fell over in surprise. While he flailed around in terror, Mel was dying of laughter right next to him.

"What the hell was that?!", he shouted once he stopped flailing around.

With tears in his eyes, Mel answered, "Fireworks, you idiot, fireworks."

The pinkette was still confused so he explained, "Their explosives, and when you light them, they shoot up into the air, explode and release a display of colors."

"Oh."

Now that he was expecting them, the two enjoyed the fireworks. Side-by-side, the colors dancing on their faces.

"They're beautiful.", Natsu said.

Mel turned his head to face his friend, "Not as beautiful as you."

He turned so they were both facing each other, a blush spread across his face, not that you would notice with all the different colors, "What?", he said shakily.

"Natsu,", the blonde started, "I've been meaning to tell you this for a while,", he took a deep breath and moved so their faces were only centimeters apart, "I love you."

Mel put a gentle hand on the side of Natsu's face then kissed him with a deep passion.

At first the demon was surprised, the sudden action had made him stiff, but then he realized he loved the barkeep too, and relaxed into the kiss.

When they finally separate for air Natsu rested his head on Mel's shoulder and whispered, "And I you."

Present Day

Now it was dark, Natsu and Happy were walking along a path on the mountain. They stopped and looked over a balcony, this was his and Mel's spot all those years ago, someone decided this was too beautiful of a spot not to share and this area was developed as a result. _Well, at least others can enjoy now._

After a while at the restaurant Natsu showed Happy around Hargeon, reminiscing the tours he used to go on, but when the cat asked him how he knew the town so well he said when he was younger, he came here once. Which technically wasn't a lie, for someone with over four centuries under his belt, the age of when he came here was young. Still, Natsu was silent for most of the day, being in this town was tough for him.

A group of girls were making their way behind the two as they looked over the horizon. Then they started to gossip about a boat leaving the harbor. More specifically, how 'Salamander of Fairy Tail' was on the boat hosting a party. This made Natsu suspicious, if they were having a party they would have stayed in the harbor, but they were leaving and by the direction of the boat he would say they were heading to Bosco. And the smell of the fire mage earlier was similar to that of a slaver, he had meet a few in his time. Connecting the dots, Natsu figured they were actually slave traders that were using his moniker to lure the girls in.

 _Well I can't just let them keep using my name, it would just spread awful rumors and I don't really care for that. And they used the guild's good name to do so, yes, I think a nice little chat with them._

"Happy, there is something I need you to do for me."

Lucy was really starting to regret her choices. First, she got charmed by a creep in the street, then she was charmed again when he offered to take her to the guild of her dreams, and now she was being held hostage on a boat going to Bosco, to be sold as a slave. Really, horrible choices, maybe she should consider taking a course on how to make better decisions in life. And her night only grew worse as the fire mage threw her gate keys off the side of the boat, the night could not possibly get any more grim.

"Maybe we should get a feel for the merchandise,", one of the crew members said, "You know, get and idea of how much we can sell her for."

It just got worse.

 _Crash!_ The roof suddenly came down as the pink-haired fellow, Natsu maybe, she had taken to lunch before landed in the room she was in. Her hopes only lasted for a moment before he collapsed of motion sickness. _Lame._

"Happy, take her away.", he growled.

"Aye sir!", the flying blue cat took away the hysterical girl.

Once the two were far enough away Natsu stood up and laughed, "Now, let's have some fun."

He let go of his magical pressure, not all of it, just enough so that the crew would drop to their knees and quiver in fear. Most of the crew weren't wizards so any magical pressure they could feel would have made them drop, but wizards are different. Not many actually contain their pressure, most just let it fall free. It was a sort of way to boast their power in a none verbal way. As a result, many grew immune to feeling any ethernano or magic in the air, so if Natsu actually wanted to scare any mage he would need to release a sizeable portion of his magic. But he needed to be careful since Happy and Lucy were still close.

As he made a step forward the boat suddenly lurched forward, a wave was bringing them back into the harbor. When the boat crashed, it tipped over and spilled the people out onto the beach. Natsu could hear Lucy arguing with Happy so he decided to make a big entrance.

"You say you're a Fairy Tail wizard? Let me see you closer,", he ripped off the jacket he was wearing and pointed to his shoulder, "because I'm Natsu of Fairy Tail and I've never seen you before."

"Bora, that's the real deal.", a crew member said to the fire wizard, who quickly scalded him.

"Bora, I remember that name, you're Bora the Prominence. Got kicked out of the Titian Nose guild for bad behavior.", Happy said.

The pink haired teen laughed, "Well its one thing if you destroy your guild's reputation,", he became dead serious, "but don't even think about destroying mine's."

All, except Happy, were rightly terrified. Natsu stood before the slavers an put his hand up to his mouth, the corners of his mouth twitched then he took a deep breath. He released a gentle huff and a huge torrent of flames that blew over the whole harbor. Lucy began to scream, and the men were all on the ground past out with minor burns. When the flames subsided, and the town could be seen untouched, the girl stopped.

The sound of orders and soldiers could be heard, Natsu grabbed his cat and the celestial spirit mage then ran out of Hargeon. And to Fairy Tail they went.

The rowdiness of the guild always shocks the new members at first, but they eventually got used to it. Although Lucy still hasn't. Especially the guild brawls, they were what surprised her the most. By some miracle she still believed that at least some of the members had to be sane. She was wrong.

Natsu had become her protector. He came into her room offering the false idea that they could form a team, although he really just needed her for the maid part. After a talk with Anna, she had pleaded that he protect her, he decided to make the team thing permanent. While the girl had a fair amount of magical power and she amazing intelligence, but her fighting skills were less than par. Not to mention the mage was the biggest trouble magnet he had ever seen in all his years, seriously it was like trouble just gravitated towards her. Unfortunately, now he needed to create even better excuses if he wanted to go visit his friends.

That didn't exactly go in his favor since now the whole guild was convinced, he liked Lucy. But he just played dumb and acted like he didn't know what love was.

Today was the day that Erza was scheduled to come back, the whole guild was in a frenzy of cleaning and trying to hide evidence of their usual activities. Inevitably they wouldn't make it in time and she reprimanded them for their actions. But what was unusual was that she asked for Gray and Natsu's help, which was suspicious since Erza never asked for help, honestly, the girl would rather lose all her limbs before asking for help and even then, she wouldn't. Still, the demon wasn't exactly up for working with them, nor did he care for whatever problem they were dealing with.

But then the name of Eisenwald came up, and more specifically Lullaby. When one of his informants came in the middle of the night to tell him the information Natsu was full of aggression followed by exasperation. _Stupid, stupid humans! Why can't they ever just leave things alone?_ He was lucky that Happy was asleep and that he was far away from the house. The demons almost lost it in the forest. _Why Lullaby, of all the ones to find it had to be Lullaby. That bastard is always causing me trouble, damn it!_

So, the next day he set out to join the mages on the quest to hunt down the guild and figure out their plans. Of course, Erza had thought that she knocked him out, but he was still awake as they discussed. Oh, how badly he wanted to correct them but, alas, he could not for a number of reasons. He somehow stifled a laugh as they left him on the train, but he needed to keep quiet for what was to come next.

As soon as the man walked onto the train, Natsu knew. But he needed to stay still, even as the dark mage stepped on his chest, and when he started to insult the guild, he continued to remain silent. Eventually his patience payed off, for this fool had finally brought out the object of his troubles.

Once the flute was dangling in front of his face, Natsu grabbed it and knocked out the mage, "Lullaby, you son of a bitch, we're going to have a talk."

He made a mental connection and continued to speak, "I don't know how they found you, or how they were able to find a way to remove the seal. But what I do know is that I was lenient last time, and now your going to come with me."

' _You're an insolent child, I don't care if you are our master's greatest creation._ I _was his first._ I _am more special that you!',_ the wooden creature fumed before recollecting itself, ' _But, like they say, let bygones be bygones. I propose a wager.'_

"And what would that be?"

' _A simple test.',_ Lullaby mused.

Natsu was not impressed.

' _You believe that the humans can be better,', he began, 'then let us test that. If they decide to use me then I get to kill all the roaches I want and Tartaros can't stop me.'_

"And if they don't use you?", the demon challenged. Interest evident in his voice.

' _Then you get to take me without a fuss.'_

He thought about it for a quite some time, so long he hadn't even noticed the train had stopped, "I accept, the wager of humanity now rests on their shoulders and we can do nothing to interfere. Are we understood?"

The link was cut, and the demon returned the flute to the coat of the dark mage then proceeded to wake the man up and continue the fight he started earlier. The fate of the world now rested on him.

Natsu will be the first to admit, this was not how he imagined things would play out. Yes, when the idiot dark mage gave away all his plans, he expected them to go that way. Not the dark guild threatening to use the flute on the town, or him having to fight that pathetic guild master, maybe not even the mage sneaking off with the flute, only not to play it for the masters. Though the demon wasn't surprised when Lullaby decided to break their deal and destroy the town himself. Oh, how he was going to pay for that.

But what he did predict, was that when he defeated the flute demon. He would be called a monster. Not just by Lullaby, but also the guild masters, granted it was his whole guild but that was because they destroyed Clover, and now they were being chased away.

Monster was a word that struck a chord with Natsu. Yes, he knew he was one, but the way people use it, like, he shouldn't exist or that he is some foul beast that is only good for killing. That hurt him deeply, somewhere in his mind he knew that was all he was capable of doing, but Tartaros, his family, were better. They were the way to lead humanity towards the light and pave a path for peace.

When the members of Fairy Tail feel asleep that night, Natsu snuck away deep into the woods. He teleported to the battlegrounds of the earlier fight. He walked around casually and then he spotted it. Lullaby, in his flute form, laid in a crater with scratches and burns all over his body. He would not be able to play again for a while.

"Now listen I know you're not dead.", the pink haired teen said as he leaned over the flute.

"Yeah no shit."

A sneer grew on his face, now he squatted above the broken demon, "You lost, and broke our deal. Now we must leave, this time I think I'll let Kyoka do what she wants.", he vanished once again.

After returning Lullaby and visiting his friends for a little while, Natsu eventually returned to the campsite to see all of the members were sound asleep. Well, all except one.

"Where were you Natsu?", Makarov asked with hostility in his voice.

"Oh, you know where young man.", Natsu sat on the other side of the fire and began to eat some food he had packed in his bag.

The guild master laughed, "I still can't believe you call me that, you, who has the body of a teen."

A grin formed on the eating teen's face, "Age can be deceiving, and besides, compared to me, you are still a very young man."

"A young man who is reaching the end of his life,", Makarov turned a bit somber, "I won't be around much longer to protect my children, and I fear what will happen once I'm gone."

Natsu stopped eating, "You know I offered to take care that, to make you young again."

"And I said no."

He put his meal down, "And that is the reason I respect you so much, not many people would give up that opportunity."

The mood of the guild master improved a little, "My children are going to have to learn to defend themselves once I'm gone, to learn of the dangers I protected them from. I wish I could protect them forever,", he looked up to the sky, "but what kind of a parent would I be if I didn't let them grow."

The dragon slayer looked up to the sky too, "This age certainly is full of surprising people, your generation and the next may actually be the ones I have been looking for."

They both made eye contact, "I hope so too, maybe then we will all see a fairy."

Silence resonated throughout the camp. Nothing was said for a while, but the lack of noise spoke volumes. Natsu continued to eat, listening to the occasional pop of the fire and the sounds of summer bugs in the night. The quiet lull created a calming atmosphere.

Upon finishing his meal, Natsu burnt the container in his hand then coughed to get the master's attention, "I'm going to need to take an S-class request. More specifically Galuna Island."

The old man looked baffled, "Why would you want that request? No one has been able to complete it."

"Because,", his tone became dangerous, "Deliora is there, and some idiots are trying to break it out."

Makarov froze, "You leave as soon as we come back, do not tell anyone what you are doing and do not bring Happy with you,", he tried to control himself, "I will cover for you and try my best not to let you get discovered.", the old man sighed and rubbed his face, "This would be so much easier if you would just let me promote you to S-class."

"Yes, but that would look a little suspicious,", Natsu became deadly serious, "Then it is decided, once we get back I will go on the quest to Galuna island and stop what ever fools have decided they want to revive Deliora.", Makarov nodded with the same level of seriousness, "And I get to deal with it however I see fit.", it was more of a statement than a question but the master still nodded, giving his consent.

What they didn't know was that Gray had awoken only to hear the dragon slayer talking about hunting down the torturer of his childhood.

Nothing was said the rest of the night, or the next day. Natsu went on the quest to deal with another rouge demon, this one had once been sealed by his Gates but then he broke free and was trapped again but by an ice mage who had used a forbidden spell to protect her disciple she sealed it. In exchange to secure the demon, her body was turned to ice and became the very seal that would prevent Deliora from harming another soul. Natsu was there that day when it happened, he would never forget her sacrifice.

X774 somewhere in the north

Currently two of the Nine Demon Gates were with their master on their way to hunt down one of the demons that escaped from containment. Flames burst into existence on top of a snowy mountain leaving behind three cloaked figures, a pink haired man, a green haired woman, and a dark-haired lady. All of their cloaks were emblazed with the Tartaros mark, not that they needed them, the cold never bothered them anyway, the cloaks were to protect their identities.

The avian woman stepped forward, "So, master, you tracked the escapee to a village near here?", she put a clawed hand to her brow and looked into the distance, "Doesn't look like Deliora is around."

"Yes Kyoka, I'm sure.", the leader sighed, "Seilah are we in the correct location, maybe I overshot a little?"

The female with golden horns was reading a book, but when she heard her name she looked up, "This is the correct mountain range, but it seems we aren't near a village."

Both of the demons face-palmed at their comrade, she was completely oblivious when she started to read. The world could be ending and Seilah wouldn't even blink until she finished her chapter.

Natsu caught the scent of smoke and blood drifting throughout the chain, just as he was about to say something a loud roar erupted throughout the land.

Kyoka looked at the male with a false humor, "I think you undershot.", she said sharply.

He huffed and grabbed the two women, "You know this isn't exactly a science.", he grumbled under his breath.

They disappeared then reformed on a cliff over looking a village. The town was currently being destroyed by a colossal humanoid monster that was dark blue with scaly protrusions on his arms and large horns. Deliora had slaughtered whatever this poor town used to be. If there were any survivors, it would be a miracle. Flames burned what the demon hadn't obliterated, now a child stood before the beast, failing to even make a mark on the thing.

Seilah took a step only to be stopped by her master, when she shot him a look of confusion he solemnly answered, "That kid, from what I can hear, has a hatred of demons and is trying to kill Deliora in revenge of his family.", he brought his hand down, "If we intervene he might mistake us as a threat, not to mention what I think is his master is coming close to the town now.", he sighed, "For now, Kyoka, I need you to increased the sensitivity and make him as weak as possible without being suspicious. Seilah, try to restrict the motions as best as you can to try and protect the kid."

The two nodded and got to work, meanwhile the leader started to listen in on the child:

"Deliora!", a dark-haired boy screamed as he shot off another round of ice, not that it was doing much, "You will pay for what you did to my family!"

The demon unleashed a roar, shaking the ground so that the ice mage fell, and then he raised a lazy arm to crush the boy. Yet, instead of being killed a shell of ice formed above him, shielding him from the danger as a woman held him tightly.

"Gray, you fool.", the woman chided the boy as she stifled tears, "He's too powerful, go hide while I deal with this."

Gray uttered, "Master Ur.", before complying to her demands. He hid behind a fallen brick wall as she sent spell after spell towards the beast. Deliora was reacting much more than prior, stumbling back, but it still wasn't enough to stop him. All of them knew it, but then, as Gray had originally planned, Ur began to perform the forbidden spell of Iced Shell. At the cost of her body, the demon would be sealed away and Gray's darkness along with it.

As her body turned to ice and the boy's tears fell, she whispered one last thing to her disciple, "Go to the west, learn what I could not teach you. Most importantly, learn to let go, your too bright a person to have all that darkness."

Gray released one last communal howl as his teacher faded away and ice slowly encased the demon, he collapsed onto the ground heaving and sobbing. The boy stayed like that for a while, mourning the loss of his teacher, after some time he quietly stood up and walked towards the west.

Seeing their escapee frozen over and the boy leave, the demons made their way down to the destroyed town and stood facing towards Deliora. The sun was beginning to rise, shining light through the ice, making the land gray. A crow landed atop the beast, as an earie breeze blew on their backs.

"So, where do we put the hunk of junk?", Kyoka grumbled as she kicked a rock which hit the ice.

The pink haired demon laughed, "I have a few ideas,", he rested against Seilah who was reading once again, "Remember Galuna Island, the place full of demons who change into humans. I think the holy grounds inside the volcano would be a safe spot."

"Well E.N.D I think that is a great idea,", the avian demon snickered, "for you anyway."

"Ha-ha, very funny.", E.N.D moved to touch the ice, "just for that you two can find your own way back home."

Before she could even open her mouth, the master had ignited himself and the ice then disappeared. Leaving behind a disbelieving bird-woman and an oblivious reader.

It was at this moment that Seilah finished her book and lifted her head, "Where is master and the demon?", she asked innocently. Kyoka grabbed the book and through it as far as she could.

Galuna Island (present day)

Natsu was so close to completing this mission without a hitch, but then Gray had showed up with Lucy and Happy, which prompted Erza to follow after in a fury. He seriously was going to have to talk with Makarov about his definition of 'cover for you' because from what he had seen, clarification was needed. Still for the most part he had everything under control, now, he must say, the Grimoire Heart council woman showing up was a surprise but not something he couldn't deal with. Centuries of life, and years at Fairy Tail, had taught him the worse that could happen, usually did and to be expectant of it.

Now, Deliora was breaking free of his seal as the ice melted into the ocean. Not that it would matter, Gray's master had been draining the demon for years and he would be dying very soon now.

Gray. That was another hitch, the idiot thought sacrificing himself was a smart idea on an island that could literally break any magic. Not to mention it is a waste of a life, if he wants to be a martyr then he can do it on his own time, or when he actually lives his life. A life is a very precious thing, and Natsu likes to think that in four hundred years he has learned the value of one.

In the end everything worked out, Deliora was gone, the idiots trying to break him free were dealt with, the demon's memories were restored, and Erza was ready to kill on sight. All in all, a successful mission.

It never really was a dull time with this guild.

 **HI, I'm not dead. Sorry for the delay, midterms and stuff. I'm going to skip a majority of the plot and create some more original content, I just felt that these arcs were necessary for the overall plot. There will be a time when we go back to the story line, but it will be short and a little different than to canon, more just to explain some stuff. I think that is all, write something if you think that I missed important info. The next chapter will be, The Peace Never Lasts Long.**


	7. Chapter 5

_**The Curse of Memory**_

 _ **The Peace Never Lasts Long**_

 **There will be some unusual creatures named in here, I will be explaining them at the end if need. Further research can be done on your own time.**

Fairy Tail Guildhall

Natsu knew the moment he walked onto the beach, he wouldn't be left alone, he also knew that when he arrived at the Tower of Heaven that Zeref wasn't anywhere near the place. After that, it was like someone rolled a ball down a hill, there was disaster after disaster without rest. But luck was on his side when he met Wendy and convinced her to join Fairy Tail, mainly just so he could help with her training, but that didn't stop the ball. In his opinion it was like Lucy's ability to attract trouble had rubbed off on all of Fairy Tail, they were constantly at the epicenter of every problem. Seriously, where were the other guilds, couldn't they deal with these situations too? All Natsu knew was that he deserved a break, not that he was going to get one, but the poor soul was weary of everything. He jumped at every sound ready to fight at any moment.

Luckily no one had caught on, but still the demon just wanted five minutes of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, everyone expected him to be the one to disturb the peace so that was what he did, much to his own distain. After the Edolas incident he decided to screw it and take a personal _solo_ quest so he could visit Tartaros. Just as he was walking over to Mira to approve the request Natsu was stopped by a hunk of metal. Erza stood before him with her usual armor and stoic posture.

"We have a quest.", she had said when it really was a demand.

The dragon slayer sighed, "Actually I'm taking a _solo_ request right now,", he waved the flyer and nodded his head over to the bartender, "you guys can do this one without me, okay?"

Erza didn't move, "We have a request from master.", she turned away and began to walk towards the master's office.

This made Natsu stand tall and follow behind her in a quick like fashion. Anything from Makarov is something important, but going as far as personally requesting for the demon's help then it must be serious. This most likely was from the king, whenever a request from the master came it was Toma's sly way of making sure that the deal was still intact.

As they walked into the office the smell of dust and paper hit Natsu's nose, the dust came from the lack of effort to deal with the papers the council sent, the other members of his team were already standing in front of the desk and Makarov was frowning deeply. Seeing the short man like that reminded him of the first time he received a personal request.

Three Years Ago

The old guild master sat at his desk, staring at the parchment in front of him, a scowl resting deeply on his face. Normally papers would go onto the ever growing (and never shrinking) stack of documents, but this one was different, it was a personal request of royal decree. At first, Makarov thought it was a mistake, or a prank, but the royal crest was stamped on the paper and there was no faking that. More importantly, it was for a newer _child_ member, who was barely allowed to go on missions at this point. So, a quest of the magnitude was more than a little suspicious to the old mage.

Sighing, Makarov rubbed his face before calling Natsu into his office. Might as well figure out why such a ridiculous thing was happening.

The dragon slayer peaked his tiny head into the room, seeing him the master waved him in, the boy then sat in the oak chair in front of the desk. His head barely peaking over the edge.

"Natsu, my boy,", his tone was light but his face was deadly serious, "today I received a very strange paper.", he pushed the parchment forward, "You know what this is correct?"

Taking, and reading the request, Natsu's easy-going attitude that he had entered with changed instantly, "A personal request from the king.", there was no point in lying about what it was, but he could keep the charade up for a little while longer, "Specifically for me.", _Why is he calling for me so early, if there was an immediate danger the Gates could handle it. There isn't much that would warrant_ my _skills._

Makarov was watching the boy's reaction closely, he didn't think that Natsu would have known what the king's crest looked like, or what the paper was. Something was bothering the old man; many suspicions were gathering in his head but since the dragon slayer was only a child, he was willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

"Do you know why?", he asked, trying to push the requestee to open the letter.

The hint was taken, Natsu opened the letter and read it, "The king wants to discuss my future involvement within this guild.", in specifics he wanted the demon involve the master in the plans to defeat Acnologia. Also, the king was approving Natsu for all types of requests, S-Class and all, but they had to be reported to the king and a personal note was left saying he shouldn't do anything to receive too much attention. Why the king wanted to involve others, he did not know, but what he did was that both Anna and his guild agreed with the king in the fact that they need as many allies as they could get. The demon really was against this since he believed secrecy was key in such things, but he trusted his guild so if they thought this was best then who was he to argue?

After he had said that Makarov was thrown in a tail spin. _What does that mean? Do they know something I don't? Sure, he is a dragon slayer, and while those are rare the boy is only, well, a boy!_ More and more questions were popping into the man's mind as he analyzed what Natsu had said.

Seeing the confusion, the pink haired boy coughed to get his attention, "Well, it would seem I have some explaining to do.", he hopped up onto the wooden desk and looked the master in the eyes, "Please save all actions and questions until the end please."

Present Day

That was how Makarov came to know of Natsu's identity. Coming into the office now he fought back a snort as he thought of the story and the reaction of the man. It was quite different than what the demon had been expecting, but given that he thought the mage would attack him and blow his cover, the bar was set extremely low.

Gray, in all his nude glory, seemed excited about the prospect of going on a request of this magnitude, meanwhile Lucy look straight up terrified. Erza was the only one who had the decency to keep her stoic composure, but he could tell that while she may look serious her mind was far from the task at hand, and Wendy was a nervous wreck.

Upon seeing the last team members enter the master sat back in his chair and began to speak, "My children, you have been requested by the king for a mission that requires magical assistance.", his voice was light but Natsu could tell that he was regretting every word said, "You will be leaving tomorrow for Oak Town and from there you will have to trek your way north to the Holy Castle."

"Yes master.", Erza seemed satisfied with the information given but Lucy was not (thankfully), "What is the mission about?", she confidently squeaked out.

A sigh and face rub came from Makarov before he answered, "The barrier that once protected the Holy Castle for over two hundred years has fallen."

"And does that have to do with us?", Natsu interjected. While _he_ knew the importance of this, the others did not and would need a proper motivator to take this seriously. And he could tell they were thoroughly confused on why this would require their assistance.

"Because,", the master's voice full of irritation, "no one has stepped foot on the castle in over two hundred years, so nobody knows what remains inside. There could be traps, powerful magic may still be active, and there could possibly be people still inside.", he stood tall and leaned forward on his desk, "You all will be protecting the research team as they learn the secrets of the castle."

This satisfied the team and they left, but not before Natsu shot Makarov a look. _We'll talk later._

And that they did, a few hours later, after most of the members had left for the night. The dragon slayer sneaked into the office where the master sat, still as tense as when he first saw him.

"You didn't tell them the truth.", Makarov jumped at the sudden noise and looked up to see Natsu had taken up residency on the window sill. Staring out into the night sky with a deep look of thought.

" _I_ barely know the truth. The Holy Castle has prevented northern attackers for centuries. How exactly would I have told them that?"

A slight chuckle escaped the teen, "No, I don't see how.", he run a hand through his hair, "Especially sense that's not the whole truth."

Questions and annoyance filled the titan mage's head, "Do you mind sharing that with the rest of the class?", he asked.

"It's a long story,", he looked out to see the moon was still low in the sky, "But I guess we have some time."

200 years ago (Approximately)

Natsu and the Nine Demon Gates marched throughout the stone walls of the Holy Castle, intent on reaching the war room. All were clad in armor of the greatest strength made from the dwarfs of their guild. Everyone knew if you wanted the best weapons of war then you must get it from the forging dwarves, they had a special connection to the earth that no other species did.

Tapestries of different clans and countries lined the halls of the fortress, the Tartaros guild was marked with two white crossing hammers with a blue background. Signifying their innocence and vigilance. After passing the last of the banners the demons turned the corner the enter a large room without any windows but with large square cut-outs, in the center of the room sat a large mahogany table that could hold twenty or so people. Almost all the seats were full except two, one for Natsu and one for the leader of the alliance. The Gates lined the walls of the war room among many of the other advisors of the various clans.

A few moments after the leader of the etherious took his seat a woman entered the room and sat at the head of the table. She was tall and well built, armor covered every inch of her body, on top of the armor was a large feather cape accented with gold, and she held a lance the matched her attire. But the most noticeable part of the warrior was the crown she wore, a metal half mask that had wings extending from the sides. The moment she entered all silenced for her mere presence commanded respect.

"Thank you all for coming,", she spoke. Her voice was regal yet hard, calm and collected. Years in battle had sculped everything of the woman.

While the rest of the members silenced, a cherufe1 who sat at the farthest end of the table laughed, "As if we had a choice Ráõgríõ."

Ráõgríõ lifted her head, "Pacha, a pleasure as always. At least this time you had the decency not to eat a virgin while attending our meeting."

Jackal snorted and Mard Geer hit him, the woman continued to talk with a slight smile on her face, "All matters aside, I am glad that you all could return to Valhalla, or as you like to call it the Holy Castle.", she signaled to the other female warrior and large map rolled out on the table, "Now for matters of today, the other valkyries2 and I spotted the Shadow People3 coming from the north. The country Seven has already fallen and Bosco is almost completely overtaken.", the rest of the creatures fell silent thinking of the damage that has been caused in the wake of these dark monsters, "As we all know their multiplying ability and shadow bodies make them quite a threat. Our last stand _will_ be here, or else, the entire continent will fall.", the Valkyrie slammed an armor-clad fist onto the table, "But with our united forces we will be able to crush the greatest threat to our civilized lives since the dragons!"

Cheers of agreement were announced until someone decided to interrupt, "That's great and all, you know the motivational speech, but do you have an actual plan?", everyone turned to see the infamous E.N.D with his head down, eyes closed, and arms crossed. Feeling the crowd's attention turn to him the etherious opened an eye and veered over to the princess warrior. Said woman was shaking in anger.

"Yes, we will be utilizing the strengths of each race and strategically placing them in separate locations to fight off the Shadow People meanwhile I will prepare a large-scale holy attack that will surely defeat them."

Some of the alliance members were becoming uneasy, holy attacks had different effects on different races and if a one of this magnitude was used there was no telling what might happen to certain people.

A whistle came from the etherious, "While that _seems_ like a great plan, how do we know your able to do it?", such disrespect normally would have been stopped, but this man had a fearsome reputation on the battlefield and he brought up the question they were all asking, "Also, how do we know your not just going to use the attack to wipe us out as well?"

All attention went to Ráõgríõ as she stood imposing over the other members, "How dare you make such accusations!", one of her guards shouted.

"It's no secret you Valkyries have a… _distaste_ towards the non-holy creatures,", E.N.D reasoned, "especially to me and the other artificial demons. How do we know you won't just take this chance to obliterate all of the clans who take part in this battle?"

Whispers of doubt erupted throughout the war room, that is, until the Valkyrie princess thrusted her lance onto the ground, "Silence! Yes, in the past we have had _disputes_ with other races,", a collective grimace appeared on the faces of those in the room, "we must now gather together to defeat this enemy. This threat is unstoppable alone, but if we work together then we just might have a chance. I beg of you, let us put aside our differences and come as one to save our home."

The rest of the meeting went off without a hitch and the army now knew the plans for the final war. Once dismissed the clans all returned to their encampments to inform their armies of the attack. Well, almost all, the Tartaros guild still stood inside the war room. Natsu moved from his seat and took one to the left of Ráõgríõ and the rest of the Gates took seats at the table.

"Sorry I had to say all that, but the other clan heads were suspicious of you and if we wanted their full cooperation then we needed to clear all doubts.", Natsu said, now in a much more respectable position.

"It is quite alright,", the Valkyrie's tone was calm now as she retook her seat, "what you said was for the best, just know I would not do that to you. Our respect for each other is something I value greatly.", Ráõgríõ walked over to a large cut-out, "As you know, battle is very important us Valkyrie, battle is the purest form of our existence. And yet, knowing this, when we fought on the battlefield and you bested me, you did not kill me like you had done to countless others, instead you helped me up and together we stopped that purposeless battle.", she walked over to where the armored demon sat, "I never did thank you for that. Instead of dying the honorable death you showed me that my people needed me more than Odin4 did.", Ráõgríõ took her arm in a fist and put it above her heart then bowed before him, "So, thank-you."

"No, no you have it all wrong. I just got in a lucky hit and you were exhausted from combat. If at full strength you would have beat me.", Natsu rose from his seat and looked her in the eye, "I trust that you keep up your end of the deal, but just remember what I said to you all those years ago—So princess, hold your head high, even if you have to cry, don't let your crown fall."

With that the leader of the etherious snapped his fingers an all the artificial demons in the room, including himself, dispersed in a burst of flames.

A few hours later, and much earlier than expected, all the forces were locked in combat. Mystical creatures on falling left and right. Unfortunately, the Shadow People were falling in lesser numbers than the others. And while the numbers of the alliance were slowly dwindling, the opposing army seemed infinite. So many were dying that even finding a spot to do combat without stepping on a body was beginning to get hard.

Black ashes of the dismembers shadow bodies covered the armor of Natsu, not that he seemed fazed. His face was stone and his movements were calculated, not one step was wasted as the demon slaughtered his opponents. _Disgraceful, its demons like you that give the rest of us a bad reputation._ He thought as he stabbed a hand through the heart of a shadow. _You are not a demon, you're a pathetic artificial scourge that needs to be purged._ It hissed back before dying.

Natsu stood up and shook of his hand, "Seilah!", he called over to the golden-horned demon who was floating above the battlefield using her curse to rip apart her enemies, "Mass Marco please!", she stopped her current battle and the two fell to the ground, then Seilah put her hands together and said, "Limiter Release: Absolute control.", all of the Shadow People with a three kilometer radius stopped, all control of their bodies now belonged to the demon. Natsu nodded his head in thanks then jumped up to join her in the sky.

"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade.", waving his arms in a circular fashion, a wave of flames exploded outwards, incinerating every shadow demon within Seilah's control. Now all that remained of the battlefield was the corpses, unsinged, the weapons, and the blood of fallen comrades. The once rolling green hills of the coastline were now stained in red and other various colors. Seeing all the creatures on the ground soaked in their own blood reminded Natsu of the day he died, flashbacks were beginning to form in comparison. He shook his head and returned his attention to the Gates that were gathering around him.

"All of you, move to the other sectors and continue to help out in anyway you can.", he turned around and face towards the Holy Castle, "I'm going to check on our grand leader.", _something about this doesn't feel right._

"Yes master!", they shouted and dispersed.

Natsu did the same, reforming just outside the main gates of the castle. Immediately his stomach dropped. The entire front half of the castle was completely gone, the fallen bodies of the Valkyries laying in various spots, all dead. He ran inside towards the main hall where he could hear combat.

The red carpet was torn up, paints of past rulers were now destroyed, and the tapestries of the clans were ripped up, barely hanging by a thread. In the center of it all stood Ráõgríõ and the Shadow King locked in combat. The Valkyrie's armor was broken in many places and her lance looked like the next hit would be the last one. On the other hand, the Shadow King didn't seem all that affected but it is hard to tell when someone is completely made of shadows.

Ráõgríõ leaped back from her opponent and landed at where the throne used to be, "You shall not win! My crown will never fall!", golden light began to form around her, illuminating all corners of the hall.

The Shadow King hissed the appeared in front of her, stabbing the princess with his hamberge, "With this blow you shall turn to stone and I will have won. The light of your holy grace goes dim today.", his voice was scratchy and sharp as he spoke, "And darkness will fall over this land like many others."

"Even if I fall today, you will come with me.", the princess raised her lance and pierced him through the head, all the way till the blade came clean out, "Holy Spell: Complete Purge! By killing the first of the bloodline of a species this spell with kill all others made from you."

He screeched in agony and furry before a bright light emitted from the center of his being and he exploded into a wisp of shadows. Ráõgríõ fell to her knee, grasping onto the lance for support. It was now the Natsu entered and came to help her up.

"You're a stupid girl.", he chided, "So this was your plan, sacrifice yourself in a grand battle."

A chuckle escaped the warrior as she gained her balance, "I guess I am a fool, but at least the world is safe. But now I must ask you a favor.", she faced forward to look at the rising sun, "Please watch over my remaining warriors, as I will watch over this land."

"Of course, I will take them in and teach them of your sacrifice."

Ráõgríõ smiled, "Thank you, Natsu.", she then held her lance in front of her body, holding it with both hands she then bowed her head and turned to stone. The Valkyrie princess would now spend the rest of her days protecting this castle and the northern lands for the rest of her days.

The simultaneously all the Shadow People exploded with their king and the battlefield erupted with cheers. Although many were silent, this victory had come with a price, and while they were happy, they also needed to think of all they lost. The remaining warriors gathered outside the Holy Castle that evening, only to see Ráõgríõ a stone statue and the damage of the battle was undone. In respect to all the lives lost, they held a funeral in the traditional Valkyrie way. Setting the dead in boats and then lighting them on fire as they drifted away. Each clan went their separate ways and the Tartaros guild took in the remaining Valkyries, who were seldom in number, to teach them of Ráõgríõ and the honor of her last battle.

Present Day

The entire time Natsu was telling the story he didn't move or look away from the window. Now, the moon was high in the sky, starting to descend even. While retelling the events of the Shadow War, Natsu realized he hadn't told another soul the truth since it happened. Sharing the death of someone he considered a close friend hurt him, but he wouldn't show it.

Makarov on the other hand, was in deep thought. Shadow People was a child's tale, be good or else the Shadow People will take you away, then again so was Tartaros. But still, hearing how close they came to taking over the world and how it took and alliance of multiple magical creature races to take down their infinite numbers, truly was terrifying. And the way Natsu spoke of this Ráõgríõ inferred that he knew her well, not to mention the story felt so raw, like as if he hadn't shared it before. Most importantly, the reason why the northern border was always protected against magical entities is due to the Valkyrie princess who vowed to protect the land for eternity. It posed the question of why the protection was failing now.

"So, the reason this is such a problem is because if the spell preventing anyone from entering is down, what caused it?"

"Yes,", Natsu answered, "is Ráõgríõ somehow uncursed? Or did someone figure out a way to dispel the magic? Either way I am not happy that the final resting grounds of the princess was disturbed."

A new question was now entering Makarov's mind, "If the Holy Castle protects the north from any magical attacks, then why did it not stop Alvarez Empire when they attacked?"

"In case you hadn't noticed,", Natsu began, "humans weren't mentioned in the name of clans that fought in the war. While Ráõgríõ didn't have any qualms with them, she thought that since the humans didn't try to help with the supernatural battle, she would defend them against any human battle. Justified in a way, they wouldn't help the mystical with their mystical problems, then she wouldn't help the mundane with their mundane problems."

The master nodded then looked at the clock on the wall, it was one in the morning, he signaled to the teen who sat on his window the time. Natsu took the hint and jumped out, leaving Makarov so he could get his sleep.

The next morning Natsu meet his team outside the train station so they could depart for the mission. It would take a couple of days to reach Oak Town and from there they would need to travel by foot to the Holy Castle. But for now, they would be on the train for quite some time. This trip was going to be very interesting.

 **Cherufe-** **The Cherufe is an evil humanoid creature made of rock and magma. It is said that Cherufe inhabit the magma pools found deep within Chilean** **volcanoes** **and are the source of earthquakes and** **volcanic eruptions** **.**

 **Valkyrie-** **In** **Norse mythology** **, Valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live.**

 **Shadow People-** **A** **shadow person** **(also known as a** **shadow figure** **,** **shadow being** **or** **black mass** **) is the perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, particularly as interpreted by believers in the** **paranormal** **or** **supernatural** **as the presence of a spirit or other entity.**

 **Hi guys, sorry for the wait. I needed inspiration. A lot of people have been asking about Natsu's sexuality, it will be answered in the next chapter. I was going to make one huge chapter but I didn't want to make you wait any longer. As always, I thank you for the reviews. The next chapter will be, Valhalla.**


	8. Chapter 8

_**The Curse of Memory**_

 _ **Valhalla**_

October 12th, x784

How Natsu got here, he didn't know, but right now he really wanted to leave. At some point while the mage was dying on the train his teammates decided that they were hungry and left him while they went to the food cart. During the time that they were gone he sat up and contacted Tartaros, informing them he would be delayed and about the situation at Holy Castle. But the team came back sooner than expected so he had to cut the transmission short and return to his earlier position. Upon sitting down, they started to complain about how the food cart apparently was a couple's restaurant, and not exactly the most appropriate for Wendy, after a couple minutes of watching the attendees they decided it was something they didn't want to see. One way or another they started to talk about relationships and ones they had in the past. Not exactly the most comfortable conversation for Natsu.

Sure, he had been in relationships before, he has had many girlfriends, boyfriends, and other partners. But he couldn't _share_ that with them, all Fairy Tail believed he was oblivious to love. Although, Natsu hadn't been in any form of romantic relations for almost a hundred years, in his defense _a lot_ of things have been coming up as of late, but it wasn't like he was against being in a relationship. As he grew older, and others had died, Natsu realized that many people would repeat in his interactions over time. Take Gray for example, in his time he had meet many ice mages, and while they all had similar personalities, and sometimes even similar bodies, they all had major differences. When the demon met someone like Mel, almost fifty years later, he almost cried and thought his first love had come back from the dead, but Natsu quickly understood there were diverges from the original. And over time he learned to love each of the differences of each person he met, that individuality made each person even more special.

Apparently, Lucy hadn't been in any relationships, being a hopeless romantic with too high standards made getting in a relationship almost impossible for her. Erza had never been in a relationship either, but Natsu suspected that she only had eyes for a certain blue-haired mage. Wendy, being the innocent flower she is, hadn't ever thought about being with someone. Happy proclaimed that there was only one love for him, which Carla immediately refused. Turns out Gray was the most experienced out of them all, minus Natsu, for he had 'been around' and 'experimented' with a couple of people. Although when Erza had mentioned Juvia the checks of the ice mage were dusted in pink as he coldly brushed her off, which Natsu made note of. But where he truly wished that he could curl up and die was when a certain question came up.

"Has Natsu been in any relationships?", Lucy asked. And it was at that moment Natsu truly thought about jumping out of the train.

Erza opened her mouth to answer but got interrupted by a snort from Gray, "Flame-brain? In a relationship? You got to be kidding me! He's too dense to know what love is."

The scarlet knight didn't seem pleased to have been interrupted, and promptly smashed the man's skull in, "I was speaking you idiot.", she then turned and faced Lucy, "Anyway, while it is true that Natsu is oblivious to romantic feelings, he is smarter than you credit him for."

"What do you mean Erza?", Wendy piped in.

"When it comes to battle, he has one of the greatest strategic minds I have ever encountered.", seeing the doubt in her comrade's eyes Erza elaborated further, "It may seem like he just rushes into battle blindly but he actually measures their capabilities.", they still weren't convinced, "I understand your doubt, it wasn't until I saw him up close in the Tower while he was fighting Jellal that I understood myself. Each blow was a calculated attack to see how his opponent will react and what his next move will be."

Silence fell upon the cart as this information sunk in. While Natsu cursed his carelessness, he simultaneously congratulated Erza in his head. _I should have known someone as battle-oriented as her would have noticed my fighting style._ Although thinking about the battle between him and Jellal made Natsu cringe, if Erza hadn't been there he wouldn't have had to hold back. And then eat the ethernano, _bleh,_ his etherious body is a delicate balance and eating an excess amount of ethernano disturbed his internal balance, leaving the poor mage bedridden for days.

The dragon slayer didn't realize how long his thoughts had drifted for the next thing he knew night had come and everyone in the cart had fallen asleep. Quietly, Natsu stood up and made his way out of the room. Once he found the kitchen of the food cart, he quickly got to making some food. As a fire dragon slayer his body burned through calories at an extraordinary rate, and his demon metabolism also called for lots of food. In short Natsu needed to eat well over ten thousand calories a day just to stay healthy. So, when he said he was hungry, he was _hungry._ After making himself enough food to feed an army Natsu began eating at the large wooden island in the center of the kitchen.

Erza had awoken to her head slipping and crashing into the window. _Huh? The window? Where is Natsu, usually I crash into him if I fall asleep._ The knight stood up and slipped out of the cart in search of her friend. The train kept a gentle rock that over time had come to comfort her, but for her friend trains were a horror show. Which made her curious as to the location of her friend, normally he was incapacitated whenever on any form of transportation. After walking up and down the carts for some time Erza stopped and thought for a moment. _If I were Natsu, where would I be?_ Thinking about all the places on the train he could be, her stomach suddenly growled and the location of her lost friend popped into mind. _The kitchen!_

After a few minutes, and many wrong turns, the scarlet knight reached the kitchen cart for the first-class part of the train. The lacrima lights were bright over head as she came into the room. Vibrant canary walls and metallic utensils decorated the walls, in the front center of the room stood an oak island. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Not even a spoon was out of place within the space, very suspicious, as someone who had been in an industrial kitchen like this, Erza knew that nothing ever returned to its correct place. But, oh well, maybe she assumed wrong and those at this culinary work-place did things differently. One midnight snack and a quick run through later, the mage left and continued her search for her missing friend.

Eventually Erza quit and made her way back to the cart only to find Natsu restlessly sleeping in the spot he should have been in when she first awoke. A breath of relief escaped the scarlet haired woman and a tension between her shoulders gave ease as she sat down in her spot. Once accounting for the state of her other companions Erza closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. It would be morning by the time suspicion came to cloud her mind.

A few days later Team Natsu is now hiking along a stream, going uphill, on their way to the Holy Castle. A gentle breeze drifted over the rolling green hills, there wasn't a person or animal within sight. The travel was peaceful and quiet, almost disturbingly so as for anyone who has ever traveled with Fairy Tail before they would know that they are anything but that. They reached Oak Town a few hours prior and had quickly set out to their destination, now, after many miles of walking, the top spire of the castle could be seen over the top of the hill. Lucy started to cry in relief, Horologium had returned long ago to the Spirit World leaving the mage to walk on her own two feet, Wendy also held the same excitement but just wasn't as vocal, even Gray, who had been acting like he was undisturbed, let out a breath in exhaustion. Only Erza, no surprise there, and Natsu, they assumed it was his usual energy, looked unaffected. Another hour later the team of mages collapsed in front of the golden gates of the Holy Castle.

The intricate designs engraved into the gold depicted various battle of the warriors the once stood proud here, all thirty feet of the door held the sigils describing each battle in detail. But at the top wrote a warning to all who should enter, that only the worthy would survive. Of course, no one besides Natsu knew what it said. He had almost forgotten that the Valkyrie stood anywhere between eight and twelve feet tall, some even taller, and any other guests they had could be even greater. The rest of the gates weren't there physically, but one could not enter Holy Castle without going through these gates or else be caught in an eternal loop of green hills.

After taking in the beauty for a few minutes it was Lucy who had spoken up, "So, do we knock?", she asked with skepticism evident in her voice.

Erza shrugged and walked forward, raising an armor-clad fist up, she rapped on the doors as hard as she could, creating loud booming sounds that resonated throughout the entire valley. Once the noise had stopped and everyone had uncovered their ears, they looked to see nothing had happened to the gates. The celestial spirit mage then reprimanded the knight for almost destroying and artifact of ancient history when suddenly the ground started shaking and the gates opened with a loud groan.

The Fairy Tail mages meekly stepped through and began making their way to the castle. The structure was smaller than they were expecting but also much larger than anything they seen before. Instead of being wide spread and towering above the ground like most other castles, this one's first story seemed to be purely stone, almost two stories high, elevating the rest of the castle higher. Each stone was refined to fit perfectly together and slits were formed for archers to shot from. On top of that were wooden arches with stone columns and sharp shingles lining the roofs. Each story was structured similar to a pine tree, slowly coming to a point on top, there were large extensions to each corner of the roof with sharp protrusions. Within the stories more editions were built to either add more room or create more vantage points. Holy Castle emitted an intimidating aura that commanded respect and fear, which each mage gave very willingly. Even abandoned Ráðgríð's stronghold continued to prove one of the greatest Natsu had ever seen.

As Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Gray, and Natsu came closer they could see there were protection runes carved into the stone, intricate designs, and even the sharp protrusions turned out to be dragons carved to the smallest detail.

Now in the courtyard with cobblestone paths and statues of deities the group of young mages spotted a cluster of people standing outside the main doors. All wearing expedition gear and muttering amongst themselves.

"Hey! Are you the people we were supposed to meet?!", Natsu shouted from across the courtyard, effectively scaring the crew as they jumped behind a statue of the last Valkyrie princess, Hildr. Erza smashed his skull in for scaring them then apologized.

"Please forgive my teammate for his behavior, he is just loud and doesn't mean any harm.", the scarlet woman bowed then lifted her head to see the researchers stepped away from the stone lady.

A large man with a beard and glasses stepped forward and extended a hand, "No, its our fault, we just don't get out much and are a little skittish.", a nervous laugh escaped him and the other hand went to scratch the back of his head. For someone of his size the man had a soft, timid voice. It reminded Natsu of a friend of his, the gentle giant Berg.

The other three peaked their heads outs, looking for a signal that it was safe, the large man waved them forward and, reluctantly, they lined up in front of the statue to greet the mages. One very short girl with burgundy hair tied up in pony tails and thick glasses unwrapped a lollipop and struck out a hand to Erza.

"I'm Cassandra but everyone calls me Red.", her voice tremulous in pitches but Red's confidence burned through as she looked the scarlet haired woman straight in the eye. They shook hands and surprised Erza by the firmness of the small girl's grip, who couldn't be much taller than Wendy.

In the middle stood a lanky teen with tanned skin and short hair, he turned his attention to where Gray and Lucy were standing and shot them a wink with a smolder, "I'm Nick, but you can call me the man of your dreams.", his voice similar to that of wine, refined and worked over for a long time. The encounter left both mages very confused and very flustered. Red then stepped on his toes causing him to curse.

Lastly stood a brooding dark-haired man with an awful mullet. He stood hunched over with his arms cross and long bangs covering his face. The aura presented was not the most welcoming. Without looking up he mumbled, "Daniel."

The large man with fawn hair stepped forward again, "Sorry about him, he's a little moody. Anyway, my name is John and we will be in your care for the next few days."

Each mage introduced themselves then returned their attention to the grand wooden and cast-iron doors. Roughly the same size as the gates they first entered through, these doors had the swirling designs lining around the main part and the physical door had an iron grid pattern with a large iron knocker roughly the size of a person's head. The knocker held almost two heads above even John's, leaving the group perplexed as to how to get in. And the doors were the only way into the castle since the nearest window stood two stories above them. As the mages and researchers stood confused, Natsu signaled to Happy, who flew the dragon slayer up to the knocker where he lifted it high and the released it. Upon hitting the wood, a boom erupted followed by the sounds of drums playing to the beat of a tournament beginning. By the time the group knew what was going on Natsu and Happy had already landed on the ground and rejoined with them.

The tempo began to in increase, each beat louder than the last, until finally the crescendo hit and the doors opened with a moan. Awe held within them as the music faded away, allowing them to enter the Holy Castle.

Darkness clung to the stone walls, the only source of light came from the open doors but even then, barely a few feet could be seen. Tendrils of shadows seemed to stretch forward, as if trying to consume all form of light. A chill spread through the group and the smell of dust became prominent. The Fairy Tail mages could only wonder what it was like for Natsu, for if even they could smell it then how was he faring? Before they could even ask the fire mage to create some light, wall torches erupted in flames, creating a path leading them forward.

Now that they could see, the group took note that a lavish red rug lined the floor with more golden designs. Weapons, armors, and the occasional tapestry lined the walls alongside the wall torches. Each torch was a cone shape with a metal band with studs holding them in place on the wall. The corridor came to a stop, in the middle of the wall hung a painting. A beautiful lady in full armor, her alabaster skin blending with her shining armor. Her dusty hair draping over her shoulders, blending with the feathers that adorned on her armor. Most of the woman's face was covered by a half mask helmet, pure metal engraved with the runes similar to the castle, on the sides of it were large feathers in the shape of extended wings. In the painting she held a spear that also was engraved and smelted to have wings extending where the blade began.

"Wow, she's beautiful.", Lucy said softly. Awe preventing her from doing much else.

Red shook off the enchantment and moved closer to the painting, inspecting the frame of the work, "It says here her name is Ráðgríð, the princess of the Valkyrie."

"Princess.", the blonde reiterated quietly, her amazement still holding fast.

"Uh, Miss Red, what is a Valkyrie?", Wendy asked meekly while holding Carla tight in her arms.

A smirk of pride grew on the researcher's face, "Well a Valkyrie, _in myth,_ was a warrior female that decided who lived and died on the battle field. Taking the souls of the soldiers they claimed to Valhalla for eternal rest.", Red pushed her glasses up, "Of course they don't exist, but still it's curious as to why they called her that. Maybe she was a well-trained princess, but even then, women didn't have rights or would be even considered for the crown.", she continued to mutter on to herself, trying to come to a conclusion of the history of the place.

"She can read that stuff?", Natsu asked out loud, genuinely curious as to how this human knew the lost language of Viking Norse. Sure, when spoken it sounded like other languages but written down was a completely different thing, all of the language was written in runic, much different than other ancient language.

"Why yes, I can!", Red's raspy voice exclaimed as she came out of her muttering session, "Like here,", she pointed to more runes on the wall near the painting, "I can read that this says to pull the left torch if you want to move on to the throne room."

"Finally, something useful came out of your ranting.", Daniel muttered before pushing his way to the front and pulled down the torch.

Red, turning the color of her nickname, opened her mouth to shout something, probably indignant, when to torches blew out, leaving everyone panicking in the dark, besides Natsu and Wendy who could see. The castle walls began to shake again as dust came from the corners of the painting wall, the end pulled back, extending the corridor until it opened up to a large open space. The group immediately rushed out of the darkness only to trip and come tumbling into the throne room.

Laying on the planked floor the mages and researchers took in the architecture. Tall wooden columns supported the ceiling, each with circles and other shapes carved into them, planks stretched across at each intersection of the pillars. Between every three supports hung strong iron chandeliers with torches aflame, creating light within the enclosed space. Stone lined the lower half of the walls until they reached the steps up to the throne, at that point the floor had been elevated and extended back another twenty or so feet.

Now they got off the pale orange carpet with the same interlocking circles as before and began to walk their way to the throne. From the planks hung various flags of different designs, some with red flames, others embroidered with floral designs, one with crossing hammers, and many more were held above their heads. But the most noticeable and prominent held fast at the end of the hall, the tapestry had large white wings sewn with a large spear in the center, all atop a silver silk that shone in the light.

Natsu stood stock still as the rest of the members of his party explored the throne room, before he couldn't smell it with all the dust in the corridor but now, here, in this space it was clear a day.

"Blood."

Erza, how had been studying a tapestry intently, immediately brought her attention to her teammate, "Are you sure?", she asked.

"Absolutely.", Natsu wasn't even aware that he had spoken aloud but now his attention became razor focused.

"Where?"

"Up there.", he pointed to the top of the elevated section of the throne room. Where one would expect the object the room had been named after would be but was not.

The two raced forward, ignoring the looks they got along the way, until they climbed the stairs and stopped dead in their tracks. No one could see it before, since the room held much grandeur and the end of the room at such a distance, but now it was obvious. In the center of the platform stood a large lady, estimated to be well over nine feet tall, completely made of stone and molded to wear armor while holding a spear.

The knight, enchanted by the beauty of the statue didn't move, but the dragon slayer inched forward, cautious of any sudden movements.

"Erza, I can hear a heartbeat from her and the smell of blood, it's coming from the statue."

"Be careful, Natsu,", the red-haired woman cautioned, "we don't know what kind of traps are set in the castle."

He ignored her, Natsu knew exactly every square inch of this place. There could be nothing here that could possibly surprise him in any way. Still, being alert in the Holy Castle is a must as he continued to creep forward to the statue. Now his hand could only be a mere few inches from her body, right above where the fatal wound had entered, the tension in his body eased and for one pure moment Natsu let the emotions show on his face as he rested the palm of his hand on the area where the sword went in. Mist began to form in his eyes but before it could ever have the opportunity to grow flames burst into existence on either side of the statue, making Natsu jump back, tension and mask back into place on his body. The fires were of table size and ever growing. Yet once again, a surprised came and the stone of the statue began to crack until all of it shattered leaving behind the lady, standing tall and bleeding. Lifting her head, the lady made eye contact with the man in front of her before whispering something and fainting into his arms.

"Natsu."

Bright light.

Bright light is the first thing that she had awoken to. So bright that she had to close her eyes and wait for a few moments. During this time she went over the last things she remembered, the council meeting being successful, meeting with the master of the artificial demons, talking with her lover before sending her off to battle, the Shadow King and herself fighting, him stabbing her through the chest, wait—

Ráðgríð shot up from the bed she laid in. Immediately taking in her surroundings, she currently resided in one of the lower ranked Valkyrie's rooms. She knew this since there were no decorations or furniture, only the bed, this is because only the higher ranked warriors were allowed to keep possessions after proving their worth in war. But know isn't the time to think of that, the Valkyrie princess then assessed her own condition. Someone had taken off her armor, which she wasn't happy about, but all minor scratches and bruises from her last battle were somehow healed. Her hand went up to her chest, where the bandages were, and began to peel them off. Ráðgríð gasped as the last wrapping came undone, the only thing that remained of her fatal blow was a slight pinkness of the skin. The only scars she had know were the ones from previous battles. But then a horrid thought had come to her mind and the warrior's hand immediately shot to her head. She exhaled in relief, her crown was still there.

Now that Valkyrie knew her own condition she quickly got out of bed, despite the protests of her body, and walked towards the door. If she was somehow moved from the throne room and cared for that meant there were trespasser's in Valhalla, and she would not permit that, even in her weakened state Ráðgríð had confidence she could take down any threat that came to her. So quietly she padded through her way to the door and peaked her head into the corridor. The torches were still lit so that meant someone had been by here within the past five minutes. Checking both sides of the hall the lady then went to the left, her hand holding onto the chilly stone while her feet protested every step on the icy surface, but she continued to pursue. Right now, she only had pants on and some loosely tied bandages around her breasts, she needed to get some armor and weapons just in case her own hands weren't enough. Also, she is not fond of being half naked with strangers roaming in her home. Ráðgríð turned left again, she now stood at a spiral staircase, turning around to make sure no one was near the Valkyrie jumped and grabbed onto the next level of the castle. She continued to do this for eight stories until she landed on the ninth floor. The ninth floor is where she resided along with her other most trusted generals.

The ninth floor is quite small in comparison to the rest of the castle, only eight rooms excluding her own, and each took up the minimum amount of space. The Valkyrie didn't believe in luxury, they believed battle was the only thing worth living for and any free time one did have was to be spent training for your next battle. Even the few possessions they did keep were all battle oriented. Even the hallway is minimalistic, planked floors and wooden doors with wrought iron designs, the only light came from three hanging torches that were evenly spread.

At the end of the floor stood her door, tall mahogany with a grid-lock design. Slowly, Ráðgríð twisted the handle, trying and failing not to make noise, and pushed the door open before slamming and locking it. Exhaling once again she turned around and rested against the door.

"Amazing, somehow your skin is paler than the stone."

Ráðgríð's eyes shot open as she leapt into her battle stance, searching the room for her would-be assailant. When she spotted the pink haired demon he sat on her bed with a spare set of armor and weapons laid out. Once she saw his face the silver lady relaxed and smiled.

"What is truly amazing is that pink hair of yours, had the dye not washed out yet?", she jested.

A chuckle escaped her friend as he got off her pure white sheets, "Very funny,", he signaled to the clothing on the bed next to where he sat, "I found some armor for you, figured you wouldn't take to kindly to waking up naked in the common's rooms."

She nodded and moved to get dressed, starting by removing her helmet and resting it gently on the bed, she quickly began putting on clean under garments then some base wear, next her leg armor and shoes, from there her beautifully crafted chest and back plate, some gauntlets and arm protection, and finally her feathered cape. After finishing with her clothing, the warrior began to stock up and hide weapons on her person. For the final touch she grabbed the helmet and gently rested it back over her head.

When Ráðgríð turned around she found Natsu studying her collection of weapons that hung on the wall. She coughed to gain his attention, which it did, and then stood stock still as she gained a serious composure.

"So, how much time has passed."

The gentle smile that once rested in the demon's face now disappeared, "About two hundred years.", he answered.

 _Two hundred years._ While she may have seemed unfazed, Ráðgríð's mind was racing a mile a minute. So many questions came to mind but the mere prospect of all the years seemed impossible to her. It's a misconception among the people that the Valkyrie were immortal, they held the same lifespan of humans but just didn't age, when they died, they were reincarnated as a child who grew up very fast and looked vastly the same as the previous warrior. That was how the species survived without any form of reproduction, and the only way for more Valkyrie to be added to the ranks is for a female to sacrifice herself on the battlefield and then become approved by the council of generals. But right now isn't the time to think of that, at this point she needed to be focused on more important matters.

"And my people, how are they?", Ráðgríð wanted to get as much information as she could, even begging most likely have been done if she wasn't a woman of pride.

A gentle glow appeared in Natsu's eyes, "They are fine. Growing in vast numbers after the Shadow War. I did as promised, they have a home on Plutogrim and are taught about their history, especially about your sacrifice, and still watch over battles to take the souls of warriors."

The princess's attention caught very quickly on that last detail, "How?", her friend seemed confused so she continued, "As you know, the Holy Castle is where the souls of warriors come for their final rest. But this is only the physical gateway. It is here that we then take their souls to the actual Valhalla in the afterlife. So, I ask again, how are the souls being taken care of if no one could enter the castle for two hundred years?"

"Well I don't know the exact details, but I believe that they collect all the souls and once a month come as close as the barrier would then preform a ritual to send the souls underground to the castle in hopes that they would go to Valhalla after entering."

Ráðgríð looked as if she wanted to say more but decided against it and changed the subject, "Okay, what did I miss in two hundred years? And why are you with a bunch of humans?"

Natsu sighed and moved to sit down on the bed, patting the area next to her, "You might want to sit down, I have a lot to explain and you might not like most of it.", she nodded and joined him on the bed. The princess studied his face closely, it seemed distant and grim while at the same time all too aware of his surroundings. Much must have happened to him, and it was at this moment that Ráðgríð could see all the years that had taken a toll on him. For even if his face would remain forever ageless, his eyes would have always seen lifetimes of pain and suffering. All she wanted to do was hold him tight in her arms, let him know that he isn't alone, but she knew that now wasn't the time for such comforts. So, instead she listened intently on what he said, absorbing as much information as she possibly could.

"And now you know, Ragnarök is nearing.", the demon ended grimly, "And that my days are numbered.", he added softly.

This time Ráðgríð did wrap her arms around him, tight enough that he knew that he was not alone but not so tight as to give discomfort, "I am infinitely sorry this is happening to you, someone with such a pure soul _never_ should be condemned to such a fate."

Natsu understood that she wasn't pitying him, but still what she had said bothered him so he shook her off and stood up, "Whatever you say.", he mumbled quietly, "Anyway we need to regroup with the rest of my teammates so they don't get suspicious, by now they probably have noticed you are gone and will begin to search for us."

He walked out of the room and waited for her in the corridor. Meanwhile the silver lady still sat on the bed, thinking over all that had been shared with her.

"Oh Natsu,", she whispered, "you don't think you are worthy of life anymore, do you? If only you knew just how wrong you were."

Ráðgríð stood up and followed her friend into the corridor so they could rejoin with his teammates.

Ten minutes later the two had found a cluster of mages and non-magical humans all standing around, trying rationalize why there was missing people. Natsu, who had been silent the entire way down to the throne room, now started shouting and acting brash to gain their attention. Something that thoroughly surprised Ráðgríð, in the years she had known him he was a mild-mannered and thoughtful man, but this persona is something completely unexpected. But he did say that he would be acting unusual in order to hide his real identity, so maybe these humans thought it normal to act this way. Somehow the warrior was able to restrain herself as the scarlet haired knight smacked him on the head for running off and scaring her, and even more impressively she didn't attack the exhibitionist as he called her friend a 'flame-brained idiot'. Yet Natsu just shook it off, as if this was a daily occurrence with no actual meaning behind it, just who did they think the dragon slayer is, an above-average mage that they could just pick on? Really, humans were still as perplexing nowadays as they were two hundred years ago.

Apparently the only one that had noticed the uncomfort of the lady who came with their comrade was the blonde celestial mage, she could tell because of the keys on her hip, since she walked away from the banter of the mages and decided to make conversation with her.

"Sorry about them, they're always a little eccentric. Anyways my name is Lucy Heartfilia, I'm a celestial spirit mage of Fairy Tail. What's your name?", her voice had a sweet quality like the honey of her eyes. Still all the immediate and sudden events were making the Valkyrie spin as her mind tried to keep up with the fast pace of the people within her castle.

It seems that Lucy mistook her delay in response for she asked, "Can you understand me?", she put her hand to her chin and tilted her head, "Of course you can't, you were trapped in stone for who knows how long, the language might have changed since then, probably.", she added.

Ráðgríð shook her head, "No I understand you, its just everything is happening so fast I'm trying to keep up.", she sighed then regained her composure and stood in her usual regal way, "My apologies Lady Heartfilia, you asked for my name. I am Princess Ráðgríð of the Valkyries, Odin's spear, with the title of council and truce.", she put her hand over heart and bent her head down in respect.

The mage shook her hands violently back and forth along with her head, "No need for any of that Princess Ráðgríð, and you can just call me Lucy."

The princess nodded, "Well then I ask you do the same for me, Lucy."

A dazzling smile grew on the smaller girls face at that, "Okay well, also how can you understand me?"

"All Valkyrie can understand and speak any language spoken on the battlefield.", she looked back at her pink haired friend who was talking to the humans about where he went and how he found her, "It is one of the gifts bestowed upon us by Odin."

"Odin? Is that some person? And Valkyries? Red told us they were some fantasy woman warriors, were you part of some army and that was what you were called?", Lucy asked with genuine curiosity, somehow completely disregarding the fact that the lady in front of her stood almost ten feet tall.

A look of appall grew on Ráðgríð's face, and the mage became very afraid that she had just angered the princess, "Odin is the god that created us, his personal army of female warriors that would defend Asgard in case of attack. And I am a Valkyrie, a female warrior that brings the souls of the dead warriors to Valhalla. We are not some imaginary creatures from fables."

It was at this moment that Lucy knew she had done messed up, "I'm _so_ sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It's just I didn't know.", Lucy squeaked as the princess bent forward to come to eye level with the mage, "Please don't kill me!"

This caught the attention of the other mages who were previously conversing about the idiocy of their teammate. Now the pant-less man and armored woman rushed over to their friend's side, trying to seem imposing against the giant lady who still stood taller than both even though she was bending down.

Ráðgríð then stood straight and began to laugh heartily, "Humans have become so skittish in two hundred years!", she wiped a tear from her eye as she continued to laugh, "And all of you, are so tiny!"

Natsu began to join her in laughter, "Ha-ha! The silver lady called you short Gray!"

"What'd you say flame-brain?", the exhibitionist turned around and butt heads with the dragon slayer.

"You heard me popsicle.", Natsu shouted back even louder. The two continued back and forth until the armored one smashed their skulls together and told them to stop messing around, to which both apologized profusely to her.

Yep, this version of her friend is a stranger to her.

"I am sorry for their behavior princess, they do not know how to act properly in the face of company.", the scarlet woman's eyes were closed the entire time and she bowed way to far forward as she introduced herself, "I am Erza Scarlet, requip mage of Fairy Tail."

 _Neither do you,_ the princess surmised internally, "That is fine, it is a pleasure to meet you Erza, I am Princess Ráðgríð of the Valkyries, Odin's spear, with the title of council and truce.", she performed the same actions as she had done with Lucy. Humans certainly have become much more entertaining than they were in her time.

"Princess huh?", a voice from behind said, it was Gray who had spoken. Now he had lost his underwear, flashing the princess her first ever encounter with the naked form of the male body.

Ráðgríð was not impressed, if the group could see her eyes, they would see a glare of inhuman proportions, "I do take kindly to perverts within my castle. If you do not put some clothes on, I _will_ castrate you.", to put extra emphasis on her point the Valkyrie pulled out a stiletto blade she had place on her lower back. This put the fear of Odin into the naked man for he quickly ran away to find clothes. When she turned back to face the girls, she saw Lucy red in the face while hiding behind Erza who looked in different. While she did not approve of her teammate's striping habits, she also wouldn't have allowed the princess to have her will with him.

"I'm sorry everyone, I couldn't find their sent anywhere.", a voice called out from the west hall. Soon a small girl with long blue hair and two flying cats came out. The girl bent over and started panting, once she caught her breathe and stood up, she noticed Ráðgríð standing in the middle of the throne room and began to panic.

"No!", she shouted with her high-pitched voice, "You can't be standing right now! Your wounds were very severe, I barely had enough power to heal you!"

The child tried to push the woman who literally was twice her size towards the bed area she originally laid, but failed miserably. The silver lady picked up the small girl by the back of her clothes and lifted here up to face level.

She stared, well they assumed she stared it's kind of hard to tell with the helmet, for a few moments before asking, "Are you a pixie? They are notorious for their healing skills and tiny stature. Although, your chest is a little small for a pixie.", she meant no harm when she said this but the girl in her hand grew bright red and started to flail around all while holding her chest.

"I'm not a pixie!", she cried, "My name a Wendy Marvel and I'm a sky dragon slayer!"

The silver lady smiled and rested Wendy back on the ground, "I am sorry for the confusion. My name is Ráðgríð. And I must thank you for healing me, you truly are a powerful mage."

"Your welcome Miss Ráðgríð, but I must insist that you rest.", the dragon slayer craned her neck up in an attempt to keep eye contact, "You still look very sickly and I'm not sure how much more healing I will have to do."

Ráðgríð put a hand to her cheek, "What's wrong with my complexion? All Valkyrie have alabaster skin, is there a problem with that?"

Wendy became very red again as she cried out, "No! There is nothing wrong with that, I'm very sorry it's just that normally people don't look like you. Not that there is anything wrong with the way you look!", she looked ready to steam at this point and the princess couldn't help but laugh.

"Anyway princess, if you don't mind, would you care to explain why you were trapped in stone for two hundred years and how the barrier around the castle came to be?", Erza asked with the kind of tone you do not take to a royal.

Ráðgríð looked to her friend who slyly nodded his approval, "I guess I can, but it is a long story and some of it even I'm not sure about."

 **Was up, sorry for the wait. And before anyone asks me,** **Ráðgríð is acting differently because she is no longer within a war time situation. If there is anything that I need to address please ask and I will try to answer it to the best of my ability. Thank you for the reviews, they are always appreciated. The next chapter will be The Shadow War: A New Perspective. Until next time, peace out.**


	9. Chapter 9

_**The Curse of Memory**_

 _ **The Shadow War: A New Perspective**_

 **This is going to be a long chapter that took me a long time to write.**

January x567, Valhalla

Ráðgríð stormed down the halls of Valhalla, ignoring the looks of confusion she got along the way. Her collection of personal guards were close behind her as they made their way to the balcony, although it was more of a launch pad, of the third story. As they neared it they saw some girls talking in front of the doors, Ráðgríð and company trampled over them as they burst open the doors.

The sun had begun to fall over the horizon to the west, but the enemy came from the north. Straight ahead of her castle stood an army of shadows and at the front their leader held his head high. One of her guards to the left had begun to draw an arrow, but Ráðgríð lifted her hand as a way of telling her to stand down. No matter how bad the princess wanted to shoot down that man, she knew it would do no harm to him. Ráðgríð nodded and squatted down, she jumped high into the air, making an ark as she cleared the rest of the castle and came crashing down onto the earth in front of the army. She landed in perfect position as the ground cracked beneath her iron boots. Mere seconds later the guards followed close behind, forming a lose semi-circle of protection around their ruler. The princess looked back to her castle, _only four hundred feet, we're going to have to work on that,_ she could see archers taking position from all levels and more suiting up to join at a moments notice. She then turned her attention back to the army in front of her, _he only brought a couple hundred soldiers, why? If he was thinking of seizing the castle then he would have brought all his forces, he wouldn't be so foolish as to underestimate us._

"Shade of Night, a pleasure as always. Might I ask, what brings you to Valhalla?", her voice ever so diplomatic as she spoke.

An incorporeal figure stepped forward, tendrils of darkness slipped off him until all that remained was a man of pale skin and dark armor, "No need for the pleasantries Princess Ráðgríð,", he spoke her title mockingly, "I have come here to negotiate a peace."

A scoff escaped one her soldiers, while the princess did agree, she would have to have a talk with the guards about proper behavior in front of people of importance.

"You come here, speaking of peace, while bearing those weapons.", another guard spoke out. Seriously, did she need to talk with _all_ her warriors about proper etiquette?

Hisses erupted from the army of Shadow People, but Shade simply raised his hand and they all silenced. Two could play the diplomat game.

"I apologize for the… crudeness of my guards.", Ráðgríð chose her words carefully, neither side wanted a war. Even if Valkyries lived for battle, that didn't mean they were stupid or blood-thirsty, the Shadow People could be infinite in numbers. With their ability to convert the dead to their ranks and all. Not to mention the Valkyrie held a responsibility towards the souls of the dead. Only they could bring the fallen warriors to the Valhalla in the afterlife.

A smile grew on the king's face, while it he meant it to be charming all it did was show off the fangs of the demon and present a more feral side, "All is forgiven Princess,", his rich voice covering over the maliciousness of his people, "But still I come here offering peace."

"Peace for what?", she asked with authority, bracing for the answer that would inevitably come, "Our kind has had no quarrel with yours in over a hundred years." _Well that's not entirely true, for the past few hundred years we have been competing for the souls of dead warriors._

"Peace for a war that doesn't have to happen.", a dangerous glint flickered in his pure black eyes, "You hand over the Crown of Light and Odin's Spear, then the lands of mortals will be safe.", the Valkyries immediately took position, ready the fight at any given moment. The humans and non-humans, despite the tensions that lay between, were under their charge by order of Odin. No harm would come to them under their watch.

"Or?", the princess asked. A challenge obvious in her voice, testing the resolve of the demon before her.

"Or, we have a war. Full out carnage between our two species.", Shade's voice began to change, hisses were becoming evident in his speech, "Your numbers might be vast, but are miniscule compared to mine. Not to mention we all know, the Valkyrie aren't immortal, nor are they invulnerable."

Ráðgríð didn't move. She simply stood there and thought. Everyone's eyes were on her now, waiting for her decision. What would she do? The princess knew that no matter her choice, the Valkyrie would follow. But still, did she have the resolve to start a war? To finish one? To willingly let her people, fight in a losing battle? Could she lead her warriors knowing that it was a one-sided fight? Yet, deep down, she also knew that none of them would just idly sit by and watch the world fall into chaos. Not to mention what he asked for, she couldn't give. The Crown of Light, though many people believed it was just a helmet she wore all the time, at full power, it could wipe out an entire continent. Not to mention Odin's spear, the Valkyrie princess was meant to wield that spear in place of their creator until he came for it, and when he did the princess was to fuse with it and physically become the spear of the god, powering it up for the battle of Ragnarök. But if someone other than a Valkyrie were to wield it, then the entire race of warriors would die. Mass extinction in one fell swoop. Ráðgríð could never hand them over, but she knew that, and the Shadow King did too. The only reason he came here was to declare a war. No matter what she did, war was inevitable.

 _Figures, he came to deliver his war message in the most dramatic way possible,_ an internal snort came with the thought, _why must all demons be like this? Can't there be just one reasonable, or at the very least, non-dramatic, demon._

Ráðgríð's midnight lips upturned to a smile as she lifted her hand up into the air, golden light shining brightly in front of her. Screeches and hisses came from the armies of Shadow People as they moved to get away from the Holy Light. The only one that didn't move was Shade, instead his face held a smug grin. Oh, how she couldn't wait to knock that smile off his face.

"Having taken great consideration into your offer, I have made my decision.", the light now faded and her spear in all its glory was now tightly gripped in her armored hands.

"And that is?"

"I decline.", the Valkyrie princess lunged forward and released a spell as she stabbed the King of Shadows, her guards quickly following pursuit, more warriors were charging from the stronghold. A satisfied smile came to her face as she heard a bellow come from the demon. While the blow only got his shoulder, because he moved at the last second, the purging powers of her weapon would still be taking effect on him. She twisted the blade deeper into his body, causing him to cry out again. "Leave this place! Souls of the impure, you are not welcome on these holy grounds!"

Light erupted from where the two leaders clashed, and the warriors of the Shadow People dissipated into forms of darkness before disappearing from the battle. Her warriors, who were occupied with fighting off the armies of night, now turned their attention to their princess. Arrows, which she hadn't realized had been launched, were still whizzing by as they landed where the hearts of their enemies should have been. Unfortunately, Shade remained as he slowly pulled himself off the blade stuffed into his shoulder.

"You will regret this.", he hissed, the form he had taken peeling away as his true body returned, pure shadows in a constant state of flux, "Let it be known I had shown you mercy before striking you down like the cattle you are.", Shade's voice had become distorted like his body. Then, he merely faded away, likely to lick his wounds after such a humiliating defeat.

Ráðgríð looked to her warriors, some of whom were looking back at her while others tended to wounds.

"Get the wounded to the infirmary. Anyone not hurt will bring them there."

A guard stepped forward, Tia, the one who had spoken out, "And what will you do your majesty?"

Ráðgríð turned to face the castle, the sun had long disappeared and night had begun to etch the sky, "I'm going to secure the barrier around the castle. Let the people know, as of now, the Valkyrie are at war."

The princess and her knights made their way back to the castle, grim faces and tense bodies as they walked. What they did not know, was that there was a third party there the entire time. A man in dark robes stood tall over the rolling hills. Once he saw the remaining Valkyrie return to their stronghold he turned around and began to walk away.

"Master will surely want to know about this."

Once again Ráðgríð stormed through the castle, this time at a much slower pace, but still just as determined to get to her destination. The Library of Lost Knowledge. She turned to her right and stood facing a stone wall. Checking over her shoulder to make sure no one was near, the Valkyrie walked over to the wall, then grabbed the hanging torch above her and pull it down. The stone began to move, shuffling from place to place until they formed a door, the same as most others in the castle. She opened the door, which released a blinding amount of light, and stepped through, once she had closed the door, the stone had returned to their original place within the wall, as if nothing had happened at all.

The Library of Lost Knowledge did not have a physical place within Valhalla, no it was more like a magical dimension that had been created to store records of import. Still the only way to enter the library is through her castle, but even if the castle were to fall, the library would still exist, just with no way to enter it.

 _Ah, so this is how you've decided to look today._ Occasionally, the library would change its shape, design, architecture, etc. for no apparent reason, although the princess had a personal theory that the library is sentient and just indecisive. Today the library was a cylinder, round and infinitely tall, books perfectly arranged on the round wooden shelves. Sunlight somehow shining down from the nonexistent ceiling, displaying the dust particles that drifted downward. Ráðgríð stood on an elaborate gold balcony that floated along the edges of the shelves. _Down please,_ she thought, _to the Archivist._ After a moment the balcony began to move, floating along the edges of the walls, giving her a look at all the different tombs of knowledge along the way. Soon she could see the floor, all oak, like the rest of the room, covered with a large red rug embroidered with gold, depicting the All Father. 

The balcony stopped a few feet short of the ground, a golden ladder descended in front of her, giving her excess to the floor. As always, she walked with grace down to the floor, making her way across the grand space, stopping in the middle where a podium stood with a large leather-bound book latched tight on top of it. Ráðgríð traced her fingers over the lettering of the book, _The Archivist,_ she then went to the metal latch and carefully pulled it off. With even more care she opened the old book to the index and waited.

Inky words began to form on the page. _What knowledge do you desire?_

"Shadow People.", she responded.

 _What about the demons of night do you want to learn?_

"Weaknesses. Strengths. Powers. Anything we can use in the upcoming war.", the princess tried not to sound needy as she asked for the information, instead opting for a more commanding tone.

 _A89, G45, R32, T11, AA10, NN07, YYY653._

The Valkyrie frowned, _Only seven books? Surely there must be more than seven books of knowledge on this class of demons._ Still, she couldn't complain if she at least got _something_ about Shade and his kind.

"Archivist, I need the records of A89, G45, R32, T11, AA10, NN07, and YYY653 in the forms of books in runic format please."

The book shook for a few seconds then slammed shut on itself, creating a loud noise that reverberated throughout the tall walls of the library. Once again, she waited, during this time Ráðgríð began to take in the new setting of the Archive. Besides holding a plethora of books, the library also held artifacts of historical importance. Large display cases enchanted with sealing magic held everything from scepters to pendants, decorated in elaborate gemstones and gold all while resting in the finest velvet. Still, no one, not even her, could come near the sealed objects or risk losing a limb or two. Drawing her attention from the items she looked back to see a grand oak desk that had appeared in the center of the room. A small smile danced across the princess's face as she traced her iron-clad fingers over the table before resting herself gracefully in the velvet seat.

A moment later books began to fly down from the towering heights swirling in descent as they landed in a large circle surrounding the desk, one book landing directly in front of the lady in the armor. _Demon Classes: The Updated Classification Edition._ A smirk grew on her face as she read the title, _quite the modern name, I see that the library still has a sense of humor._ Still she lifted the leather with great caution, reading the index carefully as she looked for the page numbers. _Behemoth Demons, no not the right class. Hellhound Demons, no. Manufactured Demons? Never heard of them before, maybe I should look back into that one. Spiritual Demons, that's the one. Page 576, just before the artificial group._ She opened the book all the way, opening onto a random page and going from there. As she flipped through Ráðgríð's eyes caught on something. _Etherious: Demons of the Books of Zeref._ Her body tensed just from reading his name, as a carrier of souls, the Valkyrie knew well the name of the man who dared mess with the cycle of life and death, not to mention the curse that was bestowed upon him by the god of life and death. She knew she shouldn't have read that section, the Black Mage was a forbidden subject, but still curiosity had brought her here in the first place and if it was there; What could it hurt, just to look?

After the first few pages the princess knew she regretted her actions, but she was too deep in to stop now. Now she had reached the section on a group of higher demons, each with vivid descriptions on how they functioned, something in her mind made her think of a rumored group she had heard of a while back. But nothing would have prepared her for the next demon, as soon as she flipped the page large scribbles and scratches of black and red highlighted the information. Danger immediately written on the page, almost half of it simply stating if one ever came face to face with it to run, other portions describing cautionary tales about the ferocity of the beast. This was unusual for the Valkyrie, only the higher-class pure-blooded demons got this much attention within these kinds of tombs. Only one little paragraph at the bottom of the page gave only the slightest amount of information about this final demon.

The world knew of this demon by the name of E.N.D.

A simple scoff came from the warrior, there was no way any being could hold that much power, it wasn't like the library wasn't unknown for being over-dramatic. So, she flipped to the next section that held the knowledge she needed.

The next few hours Ráðgríð continued to research the Shadow People, most of it turned out to be useless, but some valuable information did come to light. Like to permanently put to rest the souls of the turned then you needed to either shoot a purifying spell at them of light the spirit on fire, also if you wanted to kill a true Shadow Demon then you needed to stab them through the heart. Unfortunately, none of the books gave a way to distinguish which type of shade was which. Groaning after reading the last book for a third time, cover-to-cover, the warrior closed it gently then stood up and walked over to the floating balcony.

"Please return me.", _I can't take anymore research,_ she mentally added. She must had dosed off as the balcony brought her back up for the next thing she knew, Ráðgríð had been returned to the corridor she had originally come from.

A chill ran down her spine as she walked back to her room. Valhalla was always cold, even filled to the brim with warriors in constant motion the stone never seemed to catch the warmth all the bodies brought. Though, right now, it seemed as if none of the bodies were present within the castle. She briefly wondered how long she had spent within the Library of Lost Knowledge. That question had quickly been answered when she reached the west hall's staircase Ráðgríð could see that it the sun was long gone from the sky. A sigh escaped her as she quietly made her way up the stairs to the ninth floor, even a mystical being such as herself got tired and after the pass few days she was exhausted.

The princess didn't even bother to be silent anymore, simply slamming the door shut and gratefully pulling off her armor. Just as she was about the pull back the heavy wool sheets Ráðgríð realized there was a letter left on her bed. Despite the drowsiness the warrior immediately tensed up, no one was allowed in her room, even her most trusted generals were not to be in there unless she herself was present. Her eyes darted across the room, back and forth in all the obvious areas but no one was there, slowly she crept backwards towards her weapon wall and grabbed the labrys, a double-bitted axe. The once peaceful quiet of the night now made her at unease, the dead air only served to create an atmosphere of suspense. Cautiously Ráðgríð pushed open the closest door and searched through every corner of the small room, nothing, only spare suits of armor and under armor garments, then she went to the bathroom, even so far as to look inside the tub, and once again there was nothing out of the ordinary. She released a breath she hadn't realized she had taken, unsure of whether to be happy that no one was in her room or to be terrified that someone _had_ been in her room at one point and no one had noticed. Still the grip on the handle loosened as Ráðgríð closed the door and returned to the bed.

Gingerly she picked up the letter, the outside was addressed _Princess of the Valkyrie_ written in cursive and golden ink, when she flipped it over the envelope had been sealed with the wax insignia of two hammers crossing. A frown pulled at the corners of her mouth, the symbol seemed familiar but for some reason she could not remember where she had seen it before. Taking a dagger from under her pillow, Ráðgríðcut open the envelope then pulled out the paper inside. The letter turned out to be light and thin, unlike the thick leathery paper of her people's, but that wasn't important, her attention focused on the content of the letter.

 _Dear Princess Ráðgríð,_

 _Your enemy gains power everyday you delay your assault._

 _As of now they are invading the country Stella after dominating over their_

 _homeland of Iceberg. Each battle they have only adds to their numbers,_

 _but at the same time, gains them more enemies._

 _Your window of opportunity dwindles with each passing day._

 _It is time you expand your horizons and start to add numbers to your army._

 _Put your name to good use._

 _From,_

 _A Friend_

Ráðgríð almost dropped the letter but she quickly tightened her grip and read it over so many times she had it memorized. For such a small letter it held much information, too much, all that information was too much for her to think about at this hour. The princess went to the drawer beside her bedside and placed the letter atop the collection of throwing knives, after that she pulled herself to bed and thought of what she would do. _Maybe some allies would be useful, though the group of I would even think of working with would be the humans, we've had too many qualms with the other races for them to think of helping us stop a war._ If the Shadow People were truly so far in their campaign to gain numbers then the Valkyrie needed to stop the as soon as possible, no more lives could be risked in this meaningless war.

Soon the warrior fell asleep, a sleep full of the nightmares of battle that were to come.

March x567, Along the Border of Stella and Bosco

The clouds hung low in the sky, gray haze fell over the land as the Valkyries prepared for battle. The warriors were finalizing plans and talking amongst themselves, their faces grim as they spoke, the territory they were to battle over was the three-point border that would be the hotspot for invasion. Ráðgríð's generals had all been assigned to a section, she herself had her own battalion to lead so she couldn't think of their well-fare right now. She didn't have to look at her soldiers long to know what they were thinking; This battle was suicide. And they were right, even a warrior as experienced as herself knew this battle to be impossible. But, given the way all their attempts to stop the Shadow People had gone so far, well, they might as well go out with a bang.

Ráðgríð was livid just thinking about the way the humans had treated her people. After deciding that gaining some allies would be beneficial to their cause, the Valkyrie set out to make alliances. Which failed miserably, every time they revealed themselves and tried to ask for help the men would either laugh in their face or claim that no woman could possibly benefit as allies. All of them ended with it wasn't their problem so why should they help. The princess did everything she could think of to get them to join, from telling them that the Valkyrie were always present on a battle field, to telling them that the Shadow People were going to slaughter them eventually and without their help everyone would die. Nothing worked, all it did was get them thrown out of each castle, town, or tribe they went to.

 _Fine, if they don't want to help then they can defend themselves. Either way we need to stop the demons before they reach any further._

"Princess!", yelled a voice from the sea of soldiers below, "Enemy incoming! It looks like the demons got some additional help for this battle!"

Ráðgríð immediately stood up, dropping the stone she had been using to sharpen her weapon. Looking out into the horizon nine figures could be seen, some monstrous in stature and other petite, all terrifying. Even from here the Valkyrie could feel the pressure of their presence affecting the air. Behind them crept an army almost two to three times the size of what it was when they first encountered before.

She squeezed the grip on her spear tighter before sighing, "Get into position!", she shouted, "We will not let them advance any further."

The battalion nodded and charged forward, the powers of light and darkness surging towards each other. A tidal wave of black swept over the warriors, isolating them into domes of darkness. Silence screamed in Ráðgríð's ears, the encasement had created a perfect seal of noise and light. Luckily the Holy Spear emitted an aura that lit up the area barely. After gaining her bearings from the separation of her army the Valkyrie immediately thought of the other members of her party. Straining her ears, the warrior could hear shouting and absent swings of weapons as they tried to attack incorporeal opponents.

Suddenly blast hit Ráðgríð in the back, causing her to stumble forward gasping for breath. But before she could regain balance another attack came from the side, a tendril of darkness shooting out from the swirling walls. Once again, she tumbled to the side, and as before another tendril struck her, keeping the warrior off-balance. The onslaught continued for several minutes, to the point that Ráðgríð's vision was swimming. Metal grated against metal as she tightened her grip on her weapon, narrowing her eyes she felt the air move to her right and she swung the blade, cutting the smoke clear in half. The shadows began their onslaught again but this time the warrior was ready, slashing through each advance.

"That's enough!", a voice in the shadows called out, "You weaklings cannot handle her."

Ráðgríð pivoted on her heal and raised her spear, ready to strike, coming face to face with a man walking through a tunnel of shadows. The first thing she noticed about him was the long spikey pink hair that was braided back, the second thing was the malicious smirk that decorated his face.

"Princess of the Valkyrie, it is a pleasure to meet you.", his voice full of pride as he spoke, "Too bad it wasn't under better circumstances."

The man stepped out of the tunnel and it sealed behind him. He started circling Ráðgríð and she used this opportunity to assess him while preparing for him to strike. From what she tell he was about five foot seven and muscular but not brawny, most likely his attacks would be fast and precise. The pink haired man bore no weapon, so he must either be a brawler or simply so powerful that he didn't need weapons, but she didn't miss that his gauntlets seemed to be clawed. Also, her opponent didn't wear any chest plate, only shoulder guards, he didn't even bother to wear shin guards. Seeing this immediately made her cautious, an inexperienced fighter would have attacked him where he stood, but real warriors who were hardened by experience knew that if someone was so confident as to not wear armor to battle then they were extremely powerful.

"Who are you? You're no shadow demon."

A dangerous glint appeared in those black eyes, "Shadow, no. Demon, yes. I am the master of Tartaros, leader of the Etherious."

They both froze where they stood as the information sunk in. Ráðgríð's eyes went wide as the connection was made. Now she could see the black cloth hanging from his waist, the symbol of two hammers crossing emblazed into the fabric.

"Your E.N.D., Zeref's final demon.", her voice soft as she spoke, but she quickly hardened it, "So, you joined with Shade, should have known, all you demons think alike."

The smirk evaporated from E.N.D.'s face, turning into a scowl, "Not everything is what you think,", suddenly he charged at her, the tips of his claws mere centimeters from her neck, "and you should be careful of the words you chose next very carefully."

He moved so fast she barely had time to react, only able to parry at the last second to stop him from slicing her neck open. Quickly Ráðgríð side-stepped back and swung the staff part of her spear around to keep him at a distance. Leaning back, she put all her weight on her back leg then lunged forward, blade aimed for his heart. Unfortunately, he was faster as he dropped his foot back and lifted is arm, sparks spraying as metal scratched against metal. The demon's free arm striking upwards as he punched her in the gut.

Ráðgríð went tumbling back, crashing into the ground with a loud thud, her weapon landing a few feet in front of her. She felt like vomiting violently, luckily, she hadn't eaten before the battle, unluckily she ended up dry heaving over the ground as she waited for the throbbing to stop.

Meanwhile mocking laughter erupted above her, "Are you sure you the leader of a warrior race? Because your fighting skills are subpar and your leader skills are lacking."

The princess, still struggling to breath, looked up to him and glared through her helmet.

"Or,", he implored condescendingly, "is your heart just not in it?"

"What?", she growled.

"Your heart. Is it not in it?", he repeated, "Are you actually committed to the war, or are you just doing this because its your duty?", E.N.D. squatted before her, returning the glare in full intensity, "You aren't fighting because you are want to win, you are fighting like its your last hurrah and this is your suicide note.", hatred evident on his face, "Do you even care about this war you've started? About the lives your risking?"

Ráðgríð screamed in anger as she tackled him, both rolling to the ground, when they stopped the Valkyrie was on top, the demon trapped beneath her legs. She lifted her arm high and brought it down, full force, towards his face. Unfortunately, he threw her off him, she skidded for a few feet on all four limbs before stopping and standing in a position low to the ground.

"How dare you.", she hissed, "My warriors mean everything to me." Ráðgríð summoned her spear to her hand and charged again. This time she let her holy magic flow freely into the blade. The light surprised the demon and he was left open, allowing for her blade to go clean through his torso. E.N.D. spit up blood, staining her silver handle with even more red, as he looked upon the wound. She began to pour more magic into her weapon, creating a seal where the wound was, then pulled out her spear.

The pink haired demon started to convulse and a smirk grew on the warriors face, "I wouldn't do that if I were you,", she turned around and flung the blood of her blade, then started to search the enclosure she had been trapped in, "that seal on your body is holy magic, anyone with it inscribed on their body will be paralyzed and the more you struggle the more powerful, and painful, it gets. Now sit still like a good demon and let me figure a way out of here."

Really, she was using this time to catch her breath and mentally prepare for the next battle, but she couldn't show weakness at a time like this. Thankfully the struggling had stopped and it was peaceful while she regained her strength. Ráðgríð tensed, pivoting on her heal and bringing her spear up into a defensive position, catching the flaming fist that was coming straight at her.

"How?", she gaped, still struggling to hold him off.

"Well I figured since you used magic, that I would to.", E.N.D.'s fire increased, as well as his strength, "Dragon Slayer magic is useful for a magnitude of things, burning through other magics is one of my personal favorite use for it."

The Valkyrie's armor grew hot and it seemed as if the heat intensity wasn't going to die down anytime soon so she side-stepped then swung the weapon, striking him to the side as he fell to the ground. When he stood up Ráðgríð's went even whiter that usual, the demon's wound had healed completely. The only evidence that he had been injured was the gaping hole in the black fabric. She released another barrage, her aim true as they went for all the vital points of her opponent. But E.N.D. meet strike-for-strike, flames and light collided back and forth. While it infuriated her, Ráðgríð could admit that he was a well-matched advisory.

Now the demon counter-attacked, sending a flaming kick towards her head, which she parried, only for him to _breathe fire_ in her face, which she had no defense for besides _tucking and rolling_ onto the ground.

A sigh came from above her, "If only your heart was in this battle, maybe then it would be more fun."

"Why do you keep saying that?", she screeched while sending a blast of light towards E.N.D., surprising him as she followed the attack, spear head raining down just inches above his head, "I'm risking everything for this war! If I don't win then my people will die, the mortals won't have anyone to cater souls, I will have failed my duty of protecting everyone!"

"You aren't risking a thing!", he screamed back as he the blade between his hands, "You said it yourself, you're only fighting because it's your duty! You lose nothing if you don't win this war, you have _nothing_ at stake."

Ráðgríð's focus dropped, just for a second, just long enough for his words to sink in, just long enough for the demon to rip the spear from her hands then swipe the legs, causing her to crash into the ground. As she laid on her side coughing, E.N.D. kicked her, rolling the princess onto her back. He raised his clawed hand up, aiming straight for her heart, and if there was one thing, she learned from this battle it was that he had the strength to kill her, even through the armor.

"Do it,", she coughed, blood dripping down her lip, "I've failed my duty. Please return me to Odin's side in the afterlife."

The demon ignited his hand and the princess closed her eyes, feeling the heat draw close to her heart.

She waited for a few moments, but nothing happened. Ráðgríð opened her eyes to see the hand had stopped just as his finger touched the metal. Confused, she looked up to his face and surprise took hers as she saw the pure pain etched into his face. Not the physical kind of pain, but the emotional of when someone has died and all you can give out is condolences. This drew out a spark of fight that she still had inside her. The Valkyrie wanted to scream at him, she didn't need his pity. But before she could utilize this newfound spark, he spoke.

"No.", E.N.D. said pointedly, but with much authority and anger, "No. You don't get to quit. _We_ don't get to quit.", he restrained her then lifted her up, creating an illusion that showed her warriors, and the figures she had seen earlier, fighting and dying in the pointless battle that had been occurring the entire time, "You see that, those are _our_ people, yours and mine, fighting for their lives in a battle we were clearly underprepared and underpowered for. All because _you_ so stupidly decided that if there was going to be a last stand, that it might as well end with you.", he spun the warrior around and dispelled the illusions, "But you see, this war isn't just about you! Think about all the people and creatures that will be affected by your loss. Think about your people!", now the demon was shaking her, "Leader's don't get to quit, we suffer in the back while everyone else gets home safely! So, stop this suicide party and start thinking like the princess warrior you are!"

He dropped Ráðgríð onto the ground, letting her sink to her knees as all the horrifying images and words said could sink in fully. _Was this just an elaborate suicide?_ She thought back to all the faces everyone had given her before this battle, each grimmer than the last, all following orders no matter how much they disagreed. Oh, how far she had fallen. The silver lady lifted her hands to her head, trying to take off her helmet. Once she had worn this with pride, now, she didn't even deserve to wear it.

The Etherious saw what she was trying to do and dropped down to stop her. Carefully placing his armor-clad hands over the hers, making sure not to touch the holy metal.

"No princess, you can't. No matter what happens, you can never let your crown fall."

"I don't deserve it!", she screamed, tears beginning to slide down her alabaster skin, "Just leave me be."

"No,", he voice was soft now, gentle and comforting, something she would never believe to come from him, "Even if you have to cry, don't let your crown fall.", next he did something completely unexpected, he hugged her, "You are an amazing leader, you just, lost your way along this path of destruction. It's not too late to stop this battle."

Ráðgríð stayed on the ground while E.N.D. stood up then extended a hand, if the shadowed isolation hadn't been so dark, she was sure that smile would have blinded her. Slowly she reached up her hand and allowed herself to be pulled into that light. Somehow, he had grabbed the spear and extended it forward, which she excepted gratefully. But there were questions that needed to be answered.

"Why?", the warrior asked, "Why, are you helping me? I thought all you demons were the same."

The fire mage chuckled, but she didn't miss the way his fist clenched, "We are not all the same, in fact, my race is most hated among the artificial, and non-artificial, demons. As for why, one of my spies was caught by Shade and he threatened to kill them if I didn't join his side. But that isn't important right now, we need to focus on finishing this battle."

She nodded, knowing she wouldn't get much more out of him at this point in time. Simultaneously they powered up large-scale attacks and launched them at the shadows, incinerating a path on opposite sides. Both connecting to a maze of tortured warriors.

"We'll talk once this battle is over."

And with that the demon and the Valkyrie shot off to save their people.

Iceberg, Location Unknown

The only mountains of the country came from a long train that lined the entire northern border, the coastline shielded the country and yet everyone of Iceberg knew to fear those mountains. They feared those mountains for good reason, monsters lived in those mountains. Even in the brightest summer days, darkness coveted the territory like a blanket.

A chuckle escaped the demon as he thought of the humans that lived in the country. To him, the consistent shadows of his kingdom were a comfort, but for humanity, the darkness represented evil.

Fine, if they believed him evil then he would be.

"Your majesty.", a voice called out from below.

Shade hadn't realized it but all his negative energy was pouring out in waves, dark magic now rolling off his body into the chilly hall.

"Speak,", he commanded, now sitting up straight in his seat.

The servant broke free from the shadows and kneeled before the stone throne, "The report from the battle against the Valkyrie has come.", they stopped there, waiting for the approval of their master, which came in the form of a curt nod, "I'm afraid its mostly bad news sire, the battle was a loss and our forces had to retreat.", an interruption by the slamming of fists came, but no words so the servant took that as an invitation to continue, "And Tartaros has betrayed us, like you predicted. They have taken back the book that contained the one known as Seilah. Also, it seems that Tartaros and the Valkyrie have formed an alliance for the sole purpose of destroying our forces."

The king clenched his fist as he tried to get a rein on his anger, it didn't help that throughout the rest of the cave loud hisses of betrayal erupted, "How many did they lose?", he asked in that calmest tone he could muster at this point.

"We lost over a thousand total, it seems they figured out a way to kill us, but we gained easily twice that from all of the fallen. It seems the mind probing of that _fake_ demon proved useful, her idea on how to best utilize our abilities greatly impacted our success."

"Good,", Shade drawled, "our plan to get her to sacrifice all her forces in one blow worked then."

He waved a lazy hand, signaling the servant to go. They bowed before dispersing back into the shadows, which left Shade alone in his thoughts. He returned once again to a comfortable position, wincing as he felt the pain from the wound inflicted by the holy weapon. Even now, months later and much time soaking in the dark, he could still feel where the damned bitch had attacked him. But, no matter, soon he would be back at full power and by then he would have his revenge.

The border along Stella and Bosco

The battle was won, but the war was far from over. Although Ráðgríð knew this all too well, she couldn't help but feel relieved that it had finished. If she hadn't known all they had sacrificed to win she might have started to laugh like a maniac. Still, the warrior felt as if all the energy had been drained out of her, so she stabbed her spear into the ground and rested against it. During this time, she thought about the battle.

Even in her many years of experience, the Valkyrie had never seen a battle quite like this one. Sure, she had seen magic battles, and yes, she had seen some of the bloodiest battles that would make anyone's stomach churn. But this one was different. It was the way E.N.D fought, stabbing through their hearts or burning them alive. It was the not caring about the screams of agony as he _slaughtered_ anything that crossed his path, he didn't even wait for the body to fall to the ground before heading off to find his next victim. Though, maybe what truly had been disturbing for Ráðgríð was the face the demon had made, well actually, hadn't made. His eyes seemed to disconnect from the conflict, almost as if he hated fighting and the action of doing so brought him great pain, and his face bore the most neutral yet grim expression. Not something one sees all that often on the battle field, normally there is anger, frustration, or even enjoyment displayed upon the faces of men. Something about that face drew pity and yet fear in her heart.

Even now, the smell of charred flesh and blood burned her nostrils. She herself still has the slimy black liquid of her enemies splayed across her body, but that was nothing compared to what the Etherious looked like. Once the battle commenced, they separated into groups that joined up with her other battalions, once she agreed to let them help, but after they immediately rejoined their master and began discussing at a distance. The Etherious were like nothing the princess had ever seen before, none of them had bothered to wear any armor into battle, besides the oddly placed protectors, and yet there wasn't a single sign of a struggle. The only thing that signified that _anything_ had happened is the fact that all of them were drenched in the same black liquid. And yet, it didn't seem to bother them anymore than an insect.

And while at this moment all she wanted to do was stay as far away from them as she possibly could, Ráðgríð knew that she would have to get her answers at some point. So, she swallowed her pride, and fear, then walked over to the group of demons in the most regal and diplomatic posture she could possibly make now. Apparently, they could sense her coming for they all stopped talking and turned to face her with the crudest expressions she had ever seen. The princess tried not to take offense to that, for after witnessing that battle, she did not want to make these people her enemies.

"As the leader of the Valkyrie, it is my duty to thank you for the assistance in combat.", she lifted her arm over her heart then gave a nod.

"Assistance? We pretty much did everything.", the blond one with the unusual ears mumbled under his breath. Ráðgríð tried to not let it show that she heard him, but the pink one with the lizard structure still bashed the other demon over the head, effectively crushing him into the ground and knocking him out.

"Sorry for Jackal, princess, he is often prideful and crude of sensitive matters.", the man with long black hair apologized. He stood the closest to the leader so she could only assume that he was most likely the second in command.

"It is quite alright,", the Valkyrie tried again, "anyway, E.N.D I believe you owe me some answers."

An animosity that hadn't been there before now grew from the other members of the demons. All practically ready to strike at her now, she even swore she could hear them yelling in mind. He _doesn't owe_ you _anything._ Despite the growing tension, the leader seemed completely unfazed by it all. He simply raised his hand and they all relaxed.

 _So, they're obedient to their master. Their order of command is much like my own._

"Yes, princess Ráðgríð, I do believe we agreed that if we survived, we would answer each other's questions."

Ráðgríð did notice the slight change of wording but still she unturned her lips and nodded, "First off, I do believe I want to know why you decided to help the Valkyrie in this war against the Shadow People."

The demon ran a hand through his loose, spiky pink locks and chuckled, "Does 'out of the goodness of my own heart' count as an answer?

The towering glare from the nine-foot-tall woman seemed to answer that.

"We've been helping you since the beginning.", the look of disbelief prompted him to continue, "I do believe that you received a letter a few months ago about the incoming forces."

"That was _you_?", she asked incredulously.

Another chuckle, "Well of course, no one else would have been able to get through all that security you have."

As much as the princess wanted to talk about _that_ particular subject, a remnant of their earlier conversation resurfaced, "I thought you said one of your spies was captured, what happened to them?"

The tension that had dissipated remerged within the demons, but this time in a more sad and concerned sense, "Oh, Seilah, yes she escaped, with help, while we were battling and managed to get some insight as to Shade's future plans."

"Insight on his plans?", she could barely contain her excitement, "I don't suppose you know what that would be, would you?"

"No, not yet.", answered the pink haired leader, "But I will share it with you as soon as she returns. I believe we will be sharing many battle tactics soon."

All anticipation drained from her face as puzzlement poured over, "Are you suggesting that we formalize an alliance between the Valkyrie and the Etherious?"

Now it was E.N.D's turn to be confused, "Why wouldn't we, both of us know the magnitude of the Shadow King's army, not to mention we both want to see him and his people be defeated. Our goals would be accomplished much easier if we were to work together.", realization then dawned upon the young man, "Unless, you still want to work alone against an army of infinite soldiers?"

Ráðgríð considered it for a moment; Did she really want to work alone? No, she would take as much help as she could get, but she still felt a lack of trust with his words.

"Why?", she questioned, "Why do you want to be in this war? What do you gain from it all?"

Disappointment filled those dark eyes as he sighed, "Gain?", he repeated dejectedly, "I gain nothing, besides knowing that another great evil has been stopped and the people of this world can sleep peacefully knowing they are safe.", E.N.D now lifted his eyes to meet with the warrior's, "But if you must validate our reason to fight then it is simply our responsibility. If not for others then ourselves, Shade has harmed one of our own, and he will pay for that.", the intensity of the stares only grew, that is until he took a deep breath to calm himself, "You may or may not know this, but when Tartaros was first created we made a mission to protect our reputation as demons. With all the harm that had been caused, we felt that we needed to prove that we weren't the evil our creator intended us to be. So, in an effort to reach out to humanity, we hunted down the rouge Etherious that were causing harm. Sealing them away so they couldn't deal anymore damage. Occasionally we would cross paths with other demons or monsters along the way and dealt with them too, that became a part of Tartaros' mission. Stop the evil that causes the innocent harm.", the demon turned his back to her and looked to the setting sun, "Of course we do this all from the shadows because, well, we're demons and everyone hates us. So, we do our work in private, where they will still appreciate it and at the same time won't know it was us who did it."

Doubt rang throughout her, "Even if that is true, we are helplessly out numbered. Especially after this battle, my generals have yet to finish counting our losses."

A confident smirk tugged at the corner of E.N.D 's mouth, "Well there is a simple solution to that."

"And that would be?"

He turned back to face her, "You must gain allies within the enemies of your enemy."

If the situation weren't so grave, the princess might have laughed, "That's impossible! None of the other races would ever agree to help us with this war. Not to mention that I already tried to gain the humans allegiance but they just laughed in my face."

"Well I'm not surprised by that.", he stated dryly, "Humans are selfish by nature and never feel the need to help others unless it fulfills a selfish need of their own."

"How can you say that!", she shrieked, now towering over him and bending down to reach his face, "Humans are brave, loyal, and above all they have compassion."

"And what of your recent experiences have taught you that?", the pink haired demon retorted, "Do you have any opinions of your own or are they all just mindless teachings that have been engrained into your pompous society of holy warriors."

Ráðgríð's jaw dropped, as well did the other Etherious who had been watching this debacle. They had now moved to stand a distance away from the two. All were completely baffled by the boldness of the man. Although, the demons were all thinking the exact same thing, they were just surprised that their usually quiet and calm leader had said what he had.

Seeing the reaction of his words, E.N.D took a deep breath and tried again, "Look, I don't mean to be rude princess, it's just that your experience is much more limited than mine. I may not look it but I am getting up there in the two hundreds.", he joked, "And it's not that I disagree with your… interpretation of humans, I do agree with everything that you have said, but it's just that you and I have had different experiences with them, and that has caused us to develop different opinions."

The Valkyrie could understand that, like warriors on the battlefield, there were those who were older and more experienced, they understood how to survive and thrive in war, and then there were the novices who were young and naïve, they didn't know anything and were just trying to survive. As much as she didn't want to admit it, right now she was a novice in this new game of war. Diplomacy.

It didn't matter if in the past Ráðgríð had stopped entire nations from battling in pointless wars, her specialty was in preventing bloodshed. But now that it had started, she needs to learn a whole new set of skills—gaining allies. Now, she was going to have to convince the people that their sacrifice _was worth it_ in order to survive.

"I can understand that.", the princess stated calmly, "But I don't understand how we are going to gain more allies."

"Well there is a simple solution to all that.", E.N.D's mouth now matched that of the Cheshire Cat.

His smile unnerved her so much that she became skeptical about asking her next question, "And that is?"

"You must understand one thing before I tell you this information,", he now invaded her personal space, "you did not hear this from me. Understood?"

Despite every fiber of her being screaming no, Ráðgríð nodded her head, earning a nod of approval from the demon.

"Good. Once a month a council of mystical beings of all races gather to discuss issues revolving around the magic community.", he now stepped back and summoned an envelope in a burst of flames, "To find the location of this meeting you must be invited by the host of the event.", if possible that smile grew ever more devilish, "Luckily for you, yours truly is hosting this month's event two weeks from now. During this time, you will have to plan for a way to gain the favor of the rest of the council members and convince them to join the war. This will be difficult seeing as many of the leaders can be… less than civilized, but I'm sure you'll figure it out.", he gently handed her the tan parchment but stopped just above her hands, "Also I won't be able to help you out in _any_ way. The other races _cannot_ know I have already agreed to join your side."

The master of Tartaros released the letter then stepped back, bowing slightly as he gained distance away. The other members now moving to join by his side again. Not that she was concerned with that, right now her thoughts were moving at the speed of sound. Trying to decide what to do with all the information that had been revealed.

"How did I not know of this council?", the Valkyrie cried hysterically, "And how come we were never invited?"

"Have you ever heard of the expression, 'your invitation must have gotten lost in the mail'?", the blonde demon, Jackal if she remembered correctly, asked. Apparently he had woken up during their conversation and now stood up of his own accord.

This of course earned him another hit to the head, this time the avian woman with green hair.

"Pardon him, once again,", the last part had been mumbled, "but what he says does hold some truth.", the one called Mard Geer interjected, "See most of the other races don't really like you since past altercations with the Valkyrie tend to end badly.", seeing her look of fear he quickly amended himself, "But you shouldn't worry too much, no time like the present to end past judgments!"

Ráðgríð tried to see the positive in the sentiment but she was still majorly freaking out, "Okay, but why can't you help me out during the council meeting?"

E.N.D sighed and rubbed his face, "There are many reasons but to put it simply—We may not be liked, but the Etherious are feared and respected. If we were to seem to be on your side then the other races may believe that our forces alone will be enough to stop this enemy, which we both know won't be."

If his reasons were true then she understood, but their alliance was uneasy and trust would have to be earned. The Valkyrie nodded and concluded the meeting, the Etherious left with their master in a burst of flames and she reunited with her generals.

Soon all the warriors returned home to Valhalla. The wounded were taken care of, and the dead's bodies who were recovered were moved to the nursery to await the reanimation and reyouthiciation process. Most of the soldiers went immediately to their rooms and fell asleep. As would have the Eight Ladies of War, if their leader had not called them to her room.

"Hrist, Mist, Skeggjöld, Skögul, Hlökk, Herfjötur, Göll, and Geirahöð, thank you for agreeing to meet with me, especially after all that has happened.", they were lined in a semi-circle around the bed Ráðgríð stood before, "I hope you can forgive my actions as of late, as someone had reminded me, I am a leader _first,_ my behavior has been unacceptable and changes need to be made. But for now, I hope you can forgive me."

Silence filled the room, each of the generals were stoic as they observed and considered the princess. All of them were weary and angry, as it showed with the prominent scowls on their faces, but above all they were serious. Over the course of the past few months the Valkyries had been watching their leader fall apart and slowly degrade, while they wanted to help her the princess also had pushed them away. Gradually their authority was being undermined and every attempt to rationalize with her ended with Ráðgríð snapping at them.

For many moments no words were spoken and yet the lack of noise was deafening. The longer she waited the more the pit in her stomach grew. _Had she'd messed up so much that they wouldn't forgive her? Would there be a mutiny? Or should she just step down as the leader of the Valkyrie?_ All of these thoughts raced through Ráðgríð's mind. It must have shone on her face for Mist had left her position against the wall and walked up to her.

"Princess Ráðgríð,", she spoke in the soft and calming voice that the princess had come to appreciate so much, "I think I speak for all the generals when I say this,", her charcoal grey eyes dashed quickly to the other patrons in the room, "we all want what's best for you, and we understand the pressure you've been under lately.", Mist lifted a pale hand to gently caress the princess' face, "And above all we do forgive you. We'd be happy to have our old leader back, with a few changes as well."

Ráðgríð looked around her room to see the nods of approval coming from the other generals. She could feel stinging in her eyes but she didn't care about appearances right now. Right now, she was too relieved. The Valkyrie princess collapsed into a hug with Mist, whispering "Oh thank Odin." into her sky-blue hair.

Gentle smiles now graced the faces of the other women's faces, slowly, one-by-one they all joined in the hug. They stayed like that for quite some time, not wanting to waste this opportunity to not have to abide by the restrictions of formality. But eventually they let go and recomposed themselves.

"Now," Ráðgríð began, wiping the tears off her pale skin, "for the second part of why I called you here. I must tell you about our new _allies_ and our plan to win this war."

 **I have no excuses. I'm sorry. This chapter was going to be all in one but it just got too long and I didn't want to make you wait any longer. Sorry for any typos/grammar mistakes, I didn't get to check over the whole thing. Just as a reminder, all of the Valkyrie are extremely pale with very light, if not white, hair and are extremely tall. Hopefully I'll be able to get the next part out quickly.**


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